Howling at the Moon
by darkling59
Summary: This is a fic collection devoted to Coyote Starrk, with cameos from lots of other characters. From angst to adventure, AU to canon divergence, time travel, and beyond, this fic covers just about everything. Current: Once upon a time, Starrk was a normal hollow, evolving in Hueco Mundo with just a bit more power than other Adjuchas. Once upon a time, he evolved into a Vasto Lorde.
1. Summons

**Title: **Howling at the Moon** (Subject to change)  
Author: **Darkling59**  
Fandom: **Bleach**  
Date Published: **9/4/2012**  
Disclaimer:** Bleach and all associated characters, settings, concepts, etc within this story do not belong to me. This disclaimer will not be repeated in each chapter; refer back here if you need to see it.  
**Summary:** This is a one-shot collection devoted to the lone wolf himself, Coyote Starrk. All genres and other characters are fair game and lots of them will make appearances. Chapters 1-11 are responses to one-word prompts taken from a song. Chapters 12+ are mostly AU, canon divergence, alternate canon, character interactions, 'what if' scenarios, 'Fix-it' fics, 'For want of a Nail', Reviewer prompts, etc.

**Notes/Explanation:  
**-This is a collection of one-shots devoted to Coyote Starrk  
-Any of these might grow in the future; **let me know** if you have any ideas on which ones deserve it  
-The first ten prompts are taken from a specific song; if you can guess what it is, you get a prize (a longer fic, written by me)! But it's pretty obscure so I doubt anyone will guess it.  
-Reviews are a huge motivating factor that tend to make me update more often, so please let me know what you think!  
-Enjoy!

**Updates:**  
- 09/30/12 - The index has been moved to my LJ (the link is on my profile)  
- 01/17/13 - Profile poll activated  
- 02/25/13 - Poll closed; story prompts chosen  
- 03/04/13 - I'm **NOT** currently accepting prompts  
- 03/04/13 - I am in the process of revamping the first set of chapters so the chapter numbers and character spellings are consistent (Stark/Starrk, Lilynette/Lilinette, Halibel/Harribel). From now on, I will be using the spellings listed on the Bleach wikia. This could take a couple weeks so please bear with me.  
- 03/12/13 - Edits are complete. If you notice any inconsistencies, please let me know.  
- 03/31/13 - Story is officially on semi-hiatus (no scheduled updates; possible sporadic updates if I get inspiration) as of 3/26  
- 04/03/13 - Moved the index back to the first chapter (I decided not to wait until I hit ch. 35, mainly because I don't know when that will be.)

**Index:**  
1. Summons - Supernatural - 1.1K - Djinn Starrk is unwillingly brought to the human dimensional plane...then is promptly (and accidentally) cut free from his summoner by supernatural law enforcer Ichigo.  
2. Winter- Humor- 0.3K - Starrk takes a nap in an unfortunate place  
3. Howls – Suspense- 0.4K - a young shinigami captain has a nerve-wracking encounter  
4. Stands – General – 0.6K - Our favorite hollow has a close encounter with those sekki stone pits from the SS arc. Lilynette is not amused. Starrk does not particularly care.  
5. Sky – Tragedy - 0.45K - Starrk's final thoughts, from the streets of the fake Karakura town  
6. Alone – Drama- 1.7K - Jushiro searches for survivors in fake Karakura, only to find something unexpected.  
7. With – General – 0.5K - Central 46 will never see an arrancar, even one collared and contained, as anything other than a vicious, barely trained animal. Shunsui knows better.  
8. Searching – Sci-fi AU – 1.1K - Starrk wakes up alone and amnesiac, consumed by the hollow, empty feeling that something is missing.  
9. Midnight – General – 0.45K - The sky seems so alive in the human world.  
10. Close – Action – 1.9K - Aizen overlooks a small detail, which turns out to have major consequences. For want of a nail…  
11. Mist – Fantasy AU – 1.7K - Orihime gets lost on the English moors, and encounters a creature of myth.  
12. Dogs vs. Cats – Humor - 0.75K – Starrk really wishes the cat-woman hadn't figured out his canine nature.  
13. Reviewer Prompt #1 – 1.2K - by – Humor - Starrk gets cornered by a 'cougar'  
14. Time – Humor – 0.5K - The Hogyoku sends Starrk and his visored opponents to a different time and place…namely, Seireitei fifteen years after the hollowfication incident ( from the 'Turn Back the Pendulum' arc)  
15. Deception - General - 1.8K - There's a new substitute teacher at Ichigo's school, one that enjoys long naps and philosophical exercises. In other news, Starrk is the worst spy _ever_.  
16. Awakening - Humor - 0.5K - Starrk wakes up with a killer hangover and no idea what happened or where he is. At least he's not alone...but what's with the pink kimono?  
17. Dæmon (HDM fusion) – Drama – 1.9K - Hollows do not have dæmons. Starrk is not your average hollow  
18. A Guardian's Dilemma – General - 0.5K - When they're present, their noise keeps you awake; when they're gone, you lay awake worrying  
19. Trespass - General - Alternate Canon - 2K - Ichigo is just a 'normal' human with a few...quirks...who is trying to avoid being noticed by the shinigami. At least, he was until Grimmjow kidnapped him, dragged him off to Hueco Mundo, and then left him in Starrk's territory. Now alpha!Starrk needs to determine if the strange newcomer is a threat to be destroyed, or a possible new pack member.  
20. Reviewer Prompt #2 - 1.6K - by warrior's chick - General - Alternate Canon - fem!Jushiro gets taken prisoner by Aizen and is entrusted into Starrk's care.  
21. Whistle - Humor - 1.3K - There are many reasons the espada do not like Gin. Starrk's reason involves a dog whistle, puppy jokes, and a distinct lack of sleep.  
22. Snow - Fluff - 2K - Starrk and Lilynette become shinigami after being cleansed during the Karakura battle, and spend a fun snow day with some new friends and old enemies.  
23. Choice - General - Alternate Canon - 1.4K - After Aizen won the war and gained dominion over Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, he enslaved the remaining captains and gave them as gifts to his espada. It is Starrk's responsibility to choose who gets which shinigami.  
24. Conversation- Crack - Dialogue!fic - 0.7K - In which Ichigo and Starrk discuss the paradoxical existence of a giant palace (plus amenities) in the middle of a featureless desert. Also, it is wrong to steal pillows from the Living World. Apparently.  
25. Reviewer Prompt #3 (Part 1) - by Love Psycho - Humor - 1.3K - Ichigo makes a bad decision while in Hueco Mundo and finds himself trapped in the primera's 'pillow palace'.  
26. Reviewer Prompt #3 (Part 2) - by Love Psycho - Humor - 1.5K - Ichigo tries to return to his mission, but Starrk has no intention of letting him leave. Although he doesn't want to fight, either...  
27. Trap - General - 1.6K - One way that the battle with Shunsui could have gone, if the shinigami were just a little better prepared.  
28. Trap (Alternate Ending) - Crack - 1.5K - The trap from chapter 27 takes a very different approach to disabling its target. (aka the one where Starrk is six inches tall)  
29. Life - Drama - Alternate Canon - 2.1K - Betrayed and left to die by Mayuri, Uryu can only pray that his friends will find him in time. Unfortunately, they don't even know he's missing. Fortunately, Starrk is in the area and he is loathe to let anyone die alone.  
30. Memory - Drama - Alternate Canon - 1.8K - Five Years preview. After waking up to a life he thought he'd left behind, Starrk goes looking for his former comrades on the assumption that he can't be the only one. While trying to make sense of memories she should not rightfully have, Harribel is approached by an arrancar who is looking for answers of his own.  
31. Sword - General - Alternate Canon - 1.3K - Turnabout preview. During the zanpakuto rebellion, reports come in about a strange lupine sword spirit who avoids battle. At first it is dismissed as irrelevant...until it accidentally knocks Kenpachi Zaraki through a wall and survives the backlash.  
32. First Impressions - Angst - 0.65K - Starrk's first appearance in Los Noches does not go the way he hoped.  
33. Crime - Drama/Procedural Crime AU - 2.5K - Detective Ichigo Kurosaki and CSI Uryu Ishida look into the mysterious past of their only suspect (Starrk) in a particularly odd case.  
34. History - Drama - 1.4K - Once upon a time, Starrk was a common hollow in Hueco Mundo, devouring others in an attempt to fill the emptiness inside himself. Once upon a time, he evolved into a Vasto Lorde. (Alphabet Challenge)

* * *

**1. Summons**

Starrk yawned widely, revealing sharp fangs. When the yawn was followed by a full body stretch, including wings and claws, the scent of fear from the mage (his summoner) intensified.

Humans were so _tedious._

Finally finished, he folded the long leathery wings back along his spine and shoved both hands (claws safely retracted) into his pockets, then slumped forward into his habitual pose, tail settling loosely around his right ankle. (Lilynette called it 'lazy'. Starrk called it 'relaxed'.) For the first time, he took a good long look at the human that had brought him to this dimensional plane.

The boy wasn't _that _young, for a mortal. Not a child, but not quite fully grown either. Late teens, maybe? Since he had yet to rise from a crouched position by the summoning circle, his height was questionable. However, his proportions indicated he was probably tall and strong. Odd…most mages were hidebound scholars; Starrk had never seen one with visible muscles before, and this one was less scared than most. By far the most noticeable thing about him was the bright orange hair, coupled with brown eyes.

Finished with his inspection, Starrk cocked one eyebrow in question.

"Well?"

" …What?"

A quiet huff of annoyance. "You obviously summoned me for a reason. What is it?"

The human stood slowly, eyeing the fell creature before him with extreme caution.

"I didn't summon you."

…_What?_

Starrk slanted a mildly interested glance at the boy. "You didn't draw the circle?"

"Circle?"

"The summoning circle."

"I didn't draw _anything. _I was hunting down a rogue mage…I work for the JSCA…and followed his magical signature here."

"Hm."

Well, wasn't that interesting?

"You're a shinigami?"

"Yep."

Starrk shot him a skeptical look and the boy scowled, crossing his arms belligerently.

"I am! I'm a certified substitute agent."

"You're a trainee."

"A **substitute.**"

"A strong trainee."

An irritated glare was his only response. (Not that he noticed.)

"Hm." Starrk crouched within the circle, examining the borders with renewed interest. He'd assumed, since there was a human present, that the spell was successful. But without the mage to catalyze the reaction, there was no way it could have gone as smoothly as it seemed. Agile fingers traced the complicated symbols and arrays, reading the flow of energy as only one of his kind could.

"What's your name, kid?" his tone was distracted, but vaguely interested.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo stepped forward and crouched down on his side of the circle, watching Starrk trace the lines with fascination. So long as the summoned creature was within the binding symbols, there was no danger, regardless of how powerful it was. It was actually pretty exciting to be so close to something so dangerously lethal, even if it was effectively helpless. "What are you doing?"

There was no response. After a long minute, the human scowled and rocked back on his heels.

"Well, who are you then? And what? Why are you here?"

"My name is Starrk. My summoner could answer your final questions, if he were here."

"Well, he's not. You should probably just go back where you came from."

Starrk paused with his hand resting over the juncture of an inverted Egyptian ankh intersecting the Japanese symbol for spirit at a slightly less than 90 degree angle.

_There. _

"Sorry, kid. I don't think so."

All it took was a gentle push of dark magic into the small discrepancy for the entire spell to unravel, neon blue energy temporarily highlighting the circle before the cardinal points erupted into bright sparks and the entire thing burnt to ash.

Ichigo fell back in horror and renewed terror as the creature spread his impressive wings to their full extent, destroying all of the other containing spells with barely a thought. The entire warehouse descended into darkness as blue-edged black magic flowed from Starrk's aura like a swift-moving stream, swallowing the flickering candle-light. His eyes, previously passive, were lit from within by electric blue magical energy, sparks of which were also dancing along the tips of his claws like lightning.

He looked like a demon escaped from hell.

_Damn. _Ichigo thought, taking in the scene with shock. _I am so screwed._

* * *

**I wrote this at 2am, when I realized that I didn't have anything to post in place of the old index. Now, looking at it in the light of day, it seems...okay? I'm not exactly happy with it, but I think it'll do. (At least until I come up with something I like.) I've edited it now, so some of the rough edges should be ironed out. Let me know if you find anything I missed.**_  
_

* * *

Please read and review!


	2. Winter

**2. Winter**

Snow was _cold._

Starrk just couldn't get over how _different _it was from the sands of Hueco Mundo. It looked similar, especially on the ground, but a tentative touch was all that was needed to make the differences obvious. It was light, fluffy, and somehow refreshing, in sharp contrast to the gritty, warm sand that always smelled of death.

As an arrancar, he could not be affected by the cold, or any physical stimuli, but he could still perceive it.

The primera espada marveled at the difference, lying back in a snowdrift, and simply watching the tiny snowflakes drift down from the overcast sky. He didn't have to worry about frost bite, or hypothermia. In fact, the cold was actually comforting in a you-are-definitely-not-in-Hueco-Mundo sort of way. A deep yawn broke his train of thought, and he settled back into the soft snow to contemplate. Or to sleep…the drift was surprisingly soft, after all, and the quickening snowfall created an interesting blanket effect.

A short nap never hurt anyone, right?

He woke up five hours later, buried under three feet of snow and a layer of icy frost. The blizzard had been surprisingly fierce so early in the year.

Lilynette laughed so hard she nearly hyperventilated.

She finally stopped when he dumped a handful of snow down the back of her vest.

* * *

**This was going to be angsty, I swear. All about the 'winter' war and death. But then I realized it was 2am and Starrk realized he'd rather take a nap than brood. All I can say is that it's a good thing arrancar can't get frostbite. XD**

**I have a feeling this will be the first in a string of ficlets titled 'Unfortunate Places Starrk Woke Up'.**


	3. Howls

**3. Howls**

The shinigami captain froze in the shadow of a dune, panting heavily. Eerie howling rose around him, blue flames flickering into existence while red eyes danced in the shadows. One became two became four became eight…

_What ARE those things? What sort of monster have I unleashed?_

A rough sob of horror ripped from the young captain's throat as he turned and fled once again, tearing as fast as he could towards…towards _nothing. _The Senkaimon was long closed, and he'd likely been written off as dead. Sand, rocks, and hollows were all he had to look forward to.

Forever.

A single, piercing howl drowned out the baying of the pack, rising in volume and pitch until the hair on the back of his neck prickled and he turned to catch a glimpse of his pursuer.

It was a fatal mistake.

His foot slipped on the shifting sands, dashing his ankle into a sharp stone and throwing him off balance. He scrambled to rise, ignoring the growing pool of blood around his foot and a glint of white that he refused to believe was bone.

Too late.

Halfway up, he froze, staring at the suddenly silent pack surrounding him on all sides. There were at least fifty, with more stepping out of the shadows and others dissipating into thin air every moment, making a headcount impossible. Over a hundred piercing red eyes just standing there, _watching _him. Once again, he cursed the loss of his zanpakuto.

"Who're you?"

The rough voice was so unexpected that the shinigami yelped and jumped, instantly collapsing as his injured ankle hit the ground. Regardless, he twisted to face the new foe and stared for a moment in incomprehension.

It was…a man? Tall, long brown hair, human voice, human _face_, no mask…

No, not a man. A _creature. _All of the blood drained from his face the moment he saw the bone fragments around the monster's neck, and the gaping black hole in its chest.

A hollow that looked human.

_Vasto Lorde._

The shinigami took a deep breath, and prepared to die.

* * *

**Does this have a further story? No. Does it make sense? No. Why? Because this is another 2:30am story. It attacked my subconscious and refused to let go until I wrote it out. The shinigami captain has no specific identity…past, future, AU, canon…any are possible. Hell, maybe it's a human Komamura about to have a really bad (furry) allergic reaction to our favorite wolf arrancar.**


	4. Stands

**4. Stands**

"And they believe _we're _the barbaric ones?"

Starrk shrugged at the sneer in Lilynette's tone, and continued to stare apathetically at the milling shinigami filling spectator stands far above. He'd never known that they kept hollows in sekki-stone lined pits to fight for sport, but shinigami were still quite a mystery to him. He'd never even met one before Aizen showed up.

He wasn't impressed.

Of course, they had also proven idiotic enough to mistake him for an average arrancar (a numeros or privarion) simply because he refused to fight. Their reiatsu sensing skills were appalling. If that one group hadn't been abysmally weak enough to pass beneath his radar and sneak up on him while napping, Starrk would have simply avoided them altogether.

At this point, the better option was to wait until they made a mistake, then take advantage of their underestimation to escape. Or, if they just intended to keep him in this damn pit for eternity, wait until they left and then flood the sekki-stone lined walls with reiatsu. With his strength, it would be simple to compromise the integrity of the non-sekki components, and then he could open a garganta and return to Hueco Mundo.

He yawned deeply and trudged over to the nearest wall, settling down next to it in a relaxed sprawl.

"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when they leave?"

"Lazy ass." Lilynette grumbled irritably but settled down next to him without any physical abuse, so Starrk took it as implied agreement. There wasn't anything for her to do until he decided to mount their escape attempt, so she would most likely take a nap as well (eventually).

The unseated shinigami overhead watched with disappointment as their captive continued to ignore them, despite mocking shouts and verbal abuse. A few of them threw things, trying to provoke the creature, but it proved immovable. The girl-creature at its side was more reactive, but refused to leave her companion.

None of the spectators were willing to lower themselves into the pit to fight, for fear of getting trapped, and any other captive hollows they threw in simply cowered in the corner in apparent terror. Even if multiple adjuchas were thrown in, they huddled together and refused to fight in the presence of the smallest, weakest-looking ones.

Bored, the shinigami wandered away to other pits to cheer at more satisfying fights.

By the time they returned, their captives were long gone and the pit was a mess of shattered stone and shredded sekki overlay.

* * *

**Bah, whatever. Inspired by those pits that Yumichika and Ganju encountered during the Rescue Rukia/Soul Society arc. By all accounts, the shinigami are pretty brutal…and it's **_**purposeful **_**brutality, not the instinctual crush/kill/eat that the hollows do. They are also, as an organization, not very smart. You only have to look at their responses to the ryoka invasion, and the number of their supposed enemies in the wind, to know that. In this fic, Starrk might have been in REAL trouble if he'd encountered any intelligent individuals but the bigoted, indoctrinated goons were easy to escape from.**

**I still can't believe that the 'good guys' consider genocide a matter of course and yet they STILL claim the moral high ground. No matter their belief in 'balance', that's just wrong.  
**


	5. Sky

**5. Sky**

Death _hurt._

Starrk lay where he'd fallen, breathing shallowly. Thankfully, he couldn't see the mess that was left of his body. His chest…oh, God, his _hollow hole…_had been all but eviscerated by the captain's final slash. The taste of blood was thick in his mouth from where it was slowly filling his lungs and bubbling in his throat, and he could feel the sticky warmth of it pooling on the concrete below. He couldn't move anymore but didn't particularly care; whenever he tried, something else started hurting. But that pain was fading quickly, along with all feeling in his limbs.

The captain was still there, he realized. A slow blink refused to focus the image, leaving it blurry and dim (getting dimmer by the second). The shinigami didn't look happy and, for some perverse reason, Starrk felt thankful for that. Captain Kyoraku had done what he believed was necessary but hadn't taken pleasure in it. They were enemies, down to a nearly genetic level, but the other man respected him enough as an opponent to not dishonor his death.

This was in sharp contrast to Aizen who still hadn't even turned to acknowledge Starrk or his plight. Just like with Barragan's death; there was no care there, no honor, not even _interest. _The past six months had been the best of Starrk's afterlife, thanks to Aizen, but in that moment the primera despised his lord more than any other being in existence.

The moment passed quickly. Hatred had never been his forte.

Besides, what good would it do? He was dying.

_At least, _he thought, gazing at the one thing he didn't have to strain to focus on, _the sky isn't black._

He wasn't in Hueco Mundo. If he turned his head, he wouldn't see piles of bodies (well, he might, but he wouldn't be the one who had put them there). He wasn't _alone._

The memories of the other espada. _Lilynette_. Even the shinigami he'd been fighting…

He was dying, but he wouldn't die friendless or forsaken.

That was more than he'd ever hoped for.

With a final quiet sigh, the primera espada closed his eyes for the last time.

* * *

**;_; I had to. I'm sorry, Starrk. The reason this is under the 'sky' prompt is because I was picturing him lying there, unmoving, staring up at the blue sky and marveling at how different it was from the eternal night of Hueco Mundo. That didn't come across, but my muse jumped on the angst wagon so…here we are. :(**


	6. Alone

**6. Alone**

It was the crying that caught Jushiro's attention. A young voice was begging and pleading almost incoherently in between quiet, desperate sobs. He recognized it from somewhere, but not from the ranks of the shinigami or the visored. Whoever it was definitely did not belong on the ravaged, rubble-strewn battlefield that had been the fake Karakura town.

When he found the child, he stopped in his tracks and allowed his expression to soften with sympathy and regret.

Lilynette Gingerbuck knelt on the ground, hunched over the body of Coyote Starrk, back in his (their?) unreleased form. Her hair was in disarray and her clothes were charred, but not a single bruise marred her skin. She was shaking her companion desperately, with tears running down her cheeks, but it looked like her efforts would be for naught. Starrk had been dealt a punishing blow by Shunsui, bad enough to shatter his hollow hole and take out a good portion of his chest.

He lay totally limp in Lilynette's arms. It was unlikely he would ever rise again.

Now that he was closer, Jushiro could hear the child arrancar's quiet whimpers and protests more clearly.

"No, NO! You can't…you _promised!_ PLEASE, Starrk, get up! Get up…you promised me…you said…I don't want…I NEVER…I'm sorry, just…please get up…" she trailed off into hiccuping sobs, burying her face in his hair. It was the only part of his broken body that wasn't covered in blood.

What should he do? As a captain of the Gotei 13, Jushiro logically knew he should detain the arrancar for questioning. But, emotionally, his heart was telling him to go to the child and comfort her in her time of need. However, he knew she wouldn't appreciate his efforts and would probably resist violently to anything he did, and with good reason.

From the very beginning, this battle had not been what he expected. Neither arrancar fit the profile of a bloodthirsty hollow, but Lilynette was the one who had really shaken him. She was just so _young. _And not just physically; her attacks were immature and her emotional growth seemed to match her form.

When Starrk and Lilynette entered their release form, Jushiro at first believed that Starrk had absorbed her soul, as any hollow would. It was only after she started shouting at him through the guns that he realized Starrk had kept her intact. For such a powerful creature to maintain one small soul separately, _within _his own soul…Starrk was putting as much effort into protecting his counterpart as he was devoting to the battle. He was as abnormal, as _human_, as she was.

Unfortunately, it hadn't made a difference how un-hollow-like they were, or how little Starrk wanted to fight. The fate of both worlds rested on the outcome of the battle, and, in order for them to win, Starrk had to die. Jushiro understood that, and supported Shunsui's actions.

But still…this was a little girl who had just lost the most important person in her life and Jushiro's best friend was responsible.

"You!"

He snapped back to reality at the sudden vitriol and volume of her voice. Apparently, she'd noticed him.

"You..you…bastard! Fuck off! Don't come near us!" She was snarling at him, rising as much as possible without leaving Starrk's side and trying to look menacing. Tears still ran down her cheeks and her hands were clenched in white knuckled fists from fury and fear. If the captain attacked, she wouldn't have a chance and she knew it.

Concerned, Jushiro took a step forward, but she braced herself and growled.

"Didn'cha hear me, shinigami? Stay away from him!"

_From protected to protector. _He thought, sadly. But stopped and raised his hands in a sign of peace.

"How is he?"

He made sure to keep his voice calm and level, not revealing his sympathy. It didn't matter; Lilynette took instant offense anyway.

"Why the fuck do you care? You want to kill him _**again**__?" _Her voice was rising dangerously, on the edge of either hysterical crying or charging a cero.

_Damn it._

He wanted to help, but how…?

"Lily…?"

The new voice, roughened with pain and slurred with fatigue, froze both of them on the spot. She turned slowly, afraid of what she might see but more scared that it might be a trick of her mind. (Although the shinigami's gobsmacked expression said differently.)

"…Starrk?" Her voice was no louder than his.

"What…"He paused to exhale painfully. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" She dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, draping herself over him and shrieking shrilly. "ME? You bastard! I thought you were dead! I thought…you took all of my injuries too. That pink shinigami bastard nearly killed you and then you went and took more injuries. You…you…you were going to…we were…"

By the end of her diatribe, she was clutching his chest tightly and sobbing, deep heart wrenching cries. Starrk grimaced in pain; obviously trying not to say anything as she aggravated the monstrous wound on his chest. Somehow, despite the horrific injuries, he managed to lift an arm and pull her tightly to his side.

"I'm sorry."

She whimpered and curled closer.

Finally, his pain-fogged eyes searched out the shinigami captain standing a few yards away. Jushiro tensed, ready for anything. This man (hollow? Hybrid?) was still extremely dangerous, even mostly dead and flat on the ground with a little girl clinging to him. Especially for Jushiro, who was still recovering from his own encounter with Wonderweiss.

But the primera did not react with hostility, or even wariness. He looked from Lilynette to Jushiro, and back before taking a deep breath and meeting the captain's eyes with a determined stare.

"We will not be separated."

Jushiro smiled softly in relief and nodded. Provided they cooperated, this situation could still have a happy ending. Or at least a non-lethal one.

* * *

Three days later, the two aspects of the primera had been transported back to Soul Society. Starrk's wounds were treated by Retsu herself (Lilynette was given a check-up as well, despite her apparent health) and both were fitted with reiatsu binding restraints and confined to a maximum security holding cell in the fourth division.

When Jushiro visited, he found Starrk stretched out in the very center of the empty floor, tall frame nearly reaching from one side of the cell to the other, with Lilynette curled in a ball at his side. His chest was bound neatly, leaving only his mask free of bandages and, despite his POW status, he looked for all the world like he had just wandered in to take a nap.

"Taicho-san." Starrk greeted quietly, still not opening his eyes.

Jushiro smiled slightly. He was glad Starrk's attitude hadn't changed after his capture. It seemed he really _was _as laid back as he acted during the battle.

"Hello Starrk-san. How are your injuries?"

"Eh. Fine."

The white haired captain chuckled lightly.

"Retsu tells me you're healing well."

"Retsu?" One steel blue eye opened in curiosity.

"Captain Unohana." He clarified.

"Ah."

Lilynette snuffled and growled quietly in her sleep, twitching so violently that she almost kicked her companion. Both men watched her puppyish antics for a moment, until Starrk laid one gentle hand on top of her mask and she settled back into peaceful sleep.

"What did she mean?" the question was accidental, and Jushiro instantly wished he could call it back. So far, he had hesitated to broach the topic of the battle, and everything that had resulted from it.

"Hm?" This time, the arrancar opened both eyes, curious at his visitor's sudden discomfiture.

_In for a penny…_"When she was calling to you after the battle, before you woke up, she said you promised her something."

Starrk's expression instantly shuttered, becoming wary and unreadable. Jushiro kept his expression open and accepting, while mentally cursing and desperately hoping he hadn't destroyed the rapport they'd been building. The primera was coming around, but he was still a prisoner and a hollow amongst shinigami; there was very little trust between captor and captive. Asking for that level of faith so early might have been a mistake. The arrancar studied him silently for several long minutes, glancing down at Lilynette occasionally.

Jushiro waited patiently and, eventually, Starrk settled back down, half closed eyes fixed on the rafters above.

"Before all of this, when we first split our soul, I told her that, so long as we had each other, we would never be alone. And I promised that we would stay together forever."

An odd response, for a hollow, but the shinigami captain was beginning to expect that from these two. Since Starrk didn't seem to expect or want a response, Jushiro settled into the guard's chair outside the cell and let the silence grow and become comfortable.

There was no way to know what the future would bring, but he would try to make sure Starrk could keep his promise.

* * *

'**Tis a MONSTER. I've had this idea for a while, but never written it down. Since 'alone' can pretty much be a prompt for **_**anything **_**having to do with Starrk, I went with my first gut instinct. And got lots of Lilynette and Jushiro, for some reason. ****It was inspired by how some people seem to believe Starrk survived but Lilynette didn't; I wanted to explore the reverse situation but couldn't seem to leave Starrk dead. ****And yes, I know the spellings of their names are up for debate but I've found multiple sources supporting BOTH spellings so I just went with the least complicated ones.**

**A/N (9/4): I wrote this at 3am (apparently, that's becoming a 'thing'), and only after looking back over it do I realize how many problems it has. Since I'm sleep deprived and in pain, there are probably a whole lot more that I missed. Feel free to let me know about any mistakes I made. (Also, this wasn't intended as a second part to prompt #4, but you can take it that way if you want to.)  
**


	7. With

**7. With**

Upon entering his office, Shunsui stopped and chuckled softly, taking in the sight of his new 'pet'. Starrk was, characteristically, napping. Mid-afternoon sun shone in through the window, creating a warm patch on the tatami mat that the arrancar was lying on. He was on his back, hands folded together and resting on his stomach. A single cushion propped up his head, tilting it forward so his chin rested right above the mask remnant on his chest. He was completely dead to the world, oblivious to the peaceful picture he made.

It was a sign of how far their level of trust had progressed that Starrk didn't even stir at Shunsui's presence or the pressure of his reiatsu. The shinigami captain crouched down and brushed his hand gently over the sleeping man's hair.

Starrk stirred sluggishly and cracked one eye open. The clear grey color reflected the sunlight, making his stare shine golden.

"Hm?"

Shunsui chuckled again.

"Alright, Starrk-san?"

At his voice, the eye closed and Starrk tilted his head back slightly, leaning into the captain's touch as he nodded off again.

"Mhm…"

His movement revealed the reiatsu binding collar around his neck. It was a different design from the red version used for prisoners; this one was a continuous black metal circle intended for long term or permanent usage. The eighth division's strelitzia was engraved on the tag, marking Starrk as the captain's responsibility.

Shunsui used his other hand to tilt the collar slightly, checking that it was still intact and not harming its wearer in any way. The collar was necessary for many different reasons, and required by the Central 46 as a condition of the arrancar's survival. Not that Starrk had ever protested…he actually seemed relieved to have his reiatsu locked away. Lilynette had been _far _more vocal, even though her restraint was much weaker and less obtrusive.

Still, even she had been forced to acknowledge that this was the best of the available options.

It was doubtful that arrancar would ever be considered anything more than vicious, barely trained animals (_monsters_) by the Central 46, and the shinigami could still only see them as Aizen's twisted hollow creations. Yama-jii had made it very clear that Shunsui could only keep Starrk alive if he took responsibility and kept the hybrid under control. Since Starrk's highest ambition seemed to be 'find new places to sleep', this wasn't a problem.

In fact, it was an ambition that Shunsui could very much relate to.

Maybe Nanao wouldn't notice if he took a short nap…?

* * *

**So I started this with the intention of doing something totally different from the last two prompts. I was halfway through before I realized it could be read as a continuation of both. Maybe I'll just edit these three together and post them as their own story…**


	8. Searching

**8. Searching**

It was dark…why was it dark?

Oh.

His eyes were closed.

Open.

Strange colors. Bright. _Painful._

He couldn't move.

Break the glass, get out, get free, get out, _get out get out getoutgetoutgetout-_

!

Loud!

**"STOP."**

The running, squeaking things keeled over; the ones in the wall sparked and went dark.

Silence.

Good.

He could move, but not well.

_Ouch._

Blood. Broken glass?

Glass? What was that?

_A non-crystalline semi-solid created through the fusion of various elements and used to make hard, transparent surfaces such as windows, specimen bottles, and test tubes. The surface is smooth when whole, but shatters into numerous sharp fragments when broken._

How did he know that?

It didn't matter. His feet were bloody.

He was alone.

The (formerly) running, squeaking things were bloody too. Were they like him?

They still weren't moving.

The nearest one was white, with a giant eye in the center of its head and a long tube leading out of its back. How…

_A biohazard suit is a garment that is fully self-contained and sealed from the environment. It is intended to protect against biological, chemical, or radioactive agents and is predominantly used by emergency personnel cleaning up contaminated environments and scientists studying hazardous materials._

More knowledge he shouldn't have.

The eye-like window that should have been clear was stained bright, brilliant red.

He touched the suit gently, and it tore under his hand.

The human had trails of fresh blood leading from its (his?) ears, nose, eyes, mouth, and a wound on his forehead. He was dead.

_Did I do this? I told him to STOP…_

I.

Me.

Who was he?

_Who am I?_

_Experiment: #00000876  
Subject: #00000001A  
Level: Primera  
Designation: Starrk_

Zero zero zero…what? That wasn't right…

876. No.

1A. If there was an A, did that mean there was a B? Were there others? But that wasn't him.

Primera? Maybe.

Starrk? Hm. Starrk.

Yes.

_My name is Starrk._

With that realization, it was like everything suddenly slotted into place.

He stood up slowly, taking in his surroundings with new eyes. The high tech biology lab was still and dark, even the emergency lights were burnt out spots on the floor, but he could see perfectly fine. Several suited humans (_squeaking things, so __**weak**__) _were sprawled out on the floor, motionless, in pools of their own blood. None of them had any obvious external injuries. All of them had been moving before he spoke. The loud things in the walls were emergency klaxons, but they were as dead as the lights.

Shattered glass littered the floor on all sides, but he couldn't tell what it was from. _Where is the glass from?_

Nothing.

Guess he wasn't supposed to know that.

There were papers strewn over the floor, covered in dark marks and lines, squares and colors. He knew they meant something, but had no idea what it was.

_I can't read them._

But why would an experiment need to read?

An experiment? That's what the…voice...had said. Was that what he was?

_Experiment #00000876_

_Project: Hollowfication  
Division: Arrancar  
Priority: Low  
Hazard Level: __**EXTREME**__  
Clearance Level: Inaccessible  
Location: Seireitei Foundation- Twelfth Division  
Location 2: Hueco Mundo Research Institute  
Transfer Authorization: Captain Sosuke Aizen (shinigami) 2059-02-14  
Transfer Confirmation: Captain Gin Ichimaru (shinigami) 2059-02-16_

_Status: Discontinued  
Disposal: All biological specimens, samples, and DNA, dead and alive, are to be disposed of through euthanization and/or incineration. All technological data and results are to be deleted and backups purged from storage devices. All physical results, such as papers and reports, are to be shredded and burned.  
Authorization: General Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto (shinigami) 2059-01-01_

_Disposal Status: Complete_  
_Confirmation: Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi (shinigami) 2059-02-15_

Disposal? They were going to kill him? How had he survived?

Was anyone else alive?

Yes.

He knew at least one other person (arrancar?) was alive. He could _feel _it, sense it in his very soul; something that should have been there was now missing. He'd been able to feel it ever since he woke up. In fact, maybe it was the reason he woke up. It was calling to him…was it was in trouble?

It was a _part_ of him, of his soul, that they had taken away. They had no right.

He would get it back, or die trying.

These… 'shinigami'…wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

** I like writing about how Starrk could have survived, but it gets repetitive after a while. I doubt the previous ficlet was the last of it, but the genre I always seem to gravitate towards is sci-fi AUs and weird crossovers. Well, that and 'what-if' scenarios. You'll probably be seeing some of those too. I've got one in mind where the captains manage to take Aizen down on execution hill, and then go on to (attempt to) deal with the leaderless arrancar army…we'll see if I ever get it down. Jushiro and Shunsui are also favorites of mine, so you'll be seeing a lot of them in upcoming chapters, too.  
**

**Also, believe it or not, this started as: **

"The three ships moved through space like phantoms, dwarfing the rest of the fleet in size and yet invisible in their silence. The first was as presumptuous as its captain; it was nearly as large as a space station and bore the traditional flattened circular shape (impractical for direct battle, but Barragan rarely needed to interfere) save for five savage spikes evenly spaced around the edge, ready to impale anything that got close enough. The weaponized electromagnetic cloud of nanobots that roiled above and below the surface would spell instant death for any ship foolish enough to make the attempt."

**It was going to describe the ships of the other espada and the shuttles of their fraccion, then detail an Epic Space Battle. But I came to my senses and realized (a) that had nothing to do with the prompt and (b) it would, quite literally, be 'Bleach, but in spaceships and with lasers'. And it would have been focused on all of the captains and espada, not just Starrk. Maybe the visored as well...**

**I doubt anyone wants to read that but if I get enough support, maybe I'll write it out as a separate story.**


	9. Midnight

**9. Midnight**

Night in the living world was eerie; it was the only time of day when the sky in any way resembled that of Hueco Mundo. Occasionally, even the moon looked similar. Never as big as the one in the hollows' home, but the shape was the same.

However, even when the moons were similar, there was no mistaking one sky for the other. On clear nights, the stars stretched across the heavens, tiny lights creating patterns in the sky and indicating from their very presence that the universe was a vast place, and that humans were not alone.

Starrk loved it. If he could escape Lilynette, he would find a perch in a tree or on a park bench, and just lay there, looking up. It had been so long since he'd seen the stars…this sky just had so much personality, so much potential_._ The stars could mean anything, depending on how you looked at them.

On nights that weren't clear, when the pollution hid the sky behind a curtain of smog or light, or when fog and mist obscured the streets and left him to stand above the city if he wanted to see, the arrancar would still settle back and look up. It was so novel to see _change_, and to know it didn't come at the price of another's life. That the sky was capable of looking black one night and grey the next, drowning in light pollution, and then falling to the dark of a new moon, was a marvel.

It was fitting, Starrk mused, that the sky would be so _alive_ in the human world. Everything there was constantly changing; being born, living, dying. There was rarely any purpose to it, but at least something was happening in the humans' lives. They were actually _living_, in a way no hollow or shinigami could. Immortality is its own curse, in that it often breeds stagnation.

Ironically, the humans were the only ones who did not appreciate the beauty of their brief existence. They would keep living, working, breeding, and dying without realizing just what a beautiful opportunity their short lives were. Then they would become spirits, and it would be too late.

It was a strange, sad sort of irony.

* * *

**I have no idea what this is….it's 1:30am and I've gotten 7 hours of sleep in the last 60 hours. I'll double check and see if this makes sense in the morning.**

**A/N (9/13): I decided that it sort of makes sense, in a melodramatic kind of way, so I'm going to leave it as it is.  
**


	10. Close

**10. Close**

_For want of a nail, the shoe was lost,  
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost,  
For want of a horse, the battle was lost,  
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,  
All for want of a nail._

-Variation on a proverb by an Unknown Author

* * *

Aizen sat upon his throne, high above the petty squabbling and bickering of his underlings, fingers steepled as he considered his situation. The arrancar were strong, decent opponents for lower level shinigami but nowhere near enough to stand up to anything above a second seat. His espada, the pinnacle of his creations thus far, were more powerful, but they were divided and hostile, towards each other and him. Barragan was disloyal by nature (more so than most hollows), argumentative, and power hungry, while Harribel refused to work under 'the King of Hueco Mundo' due to their past. Ulquiorra was loyal and smart, but too unimaginative to do, or think, anything other than what he was ordered to do and the other hollows had trouble tolerating his company. Aizen had never encountered a creature so nihilistically blind to the world around it.

Those three were the only vasto lorde class hollows he'd been able to find in all of Hueco Mundo, but they weren't enough. He needed someone strong enough to engage the oldest of the captains without flinching, intelligent enough to match wits with the same individuals, and level-headed enough not to allow personal feelings or prejudice to dictate the battle. He needed a vasto lorde with enough raw power that even Barragan would hesitate to pose a challenge, enough patience to deal with Ulquiorra's abrasive bluntness, but not enough ambition to be a threat to Aizen's plans.

In short, what he needed was an arrancar fit for the title _primera_.

But without a suitable hollow to use, he couldn't make one. All he could do was send out Barragan's troops to search for more powerful recruits.

Speaking of which…he needed to send Gin out to see why several squads had failed to return. They were easily replaced, but Aizen would not tolerate deserters. It was likely they had killed each other in a petty squabble (_Again_. He was getting tired of dealing with hollows.) but he hadn't gotten this far by overlooking small inconsistencies. In fact, he'd caused quite a few in his quest to become God; they were often a sign of larger problems.

But in this case, Gin would be enough. Aizen was much more interested in figuring out ways to find another vasto lorde.

* * *

Starrk lay, sprawled flat on his stomach, at the very top of a massive white sand dune with only his eyes peeking over the top. The dune overlooked an even more massive cliff, at the base of which was the object of his focus. Lilynette lay at his side, practically vibrating with interest and the want to watch, but his hand on her head kept her horn beneath the top of the dune, out of sight.

"What is it?" she hissed, somewhere between excited and nervous. This was the most interesting thing that had happened in…_ever._

"I think…it's a shinigami." His voice was a low rumble, barely loud enough for her to hear and much too soft for the interloper's weaker senses. Shinigami had strong reiatsu, but hollows spent centuries and millennia honing their senses in order to survive.

This time, she was still for about fifteen seconds before starting to squirm again.

"Well? What's it _doing_?"

He frowned, hand inadvertently tightening on her helmet as he watched the scene far below. She squeaked in surprise then nudged him angrily.

"It's killing hollows."

She froze, excitement transforming into wariness.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know." His frown deepened. "It's smiling."

The silver haired shinigami far below was indeed killing hollows, _strong_ hollows. Strong enough not to die immediately upon encountering the far edges of his reiatsu signature. He hadn't been surprised when they pushed onwards; there had been several similar groups recently, and they all tried to approach him. Some even got close enough to see him before succumbing to his power. All of them had strange, cracked masks more like his own than those of normal hollows, and power levels comparable to a strong adjuchas.

The shinigami was killing them like they were nothing.

"Maybe…maybe it's normal?" Lilynette's voice was quiet now, matching his. "I mean, shinigami _do _that, right?"

"Mm. Not here." Something about this situation was putting his hackles up. Those hollows seemed surprised by the attack long after seeing the shinigami. In fact, at first they had welcomed the interloper. They had acted _betrayed. _Why would a hollow accept a sworn enemy into its confidence?

Well, an average hollow. If it meant not being alone, Starrk and Lilynette would probably accept one, but normal hollows, those capable of forming packs, would much rather fight to the death.

As he watched the carnage come to an end with the white clad shinigami as the victor, the vasto lorde class arrancar sunk down out of sight, tugging Lilynette with him. For once, she came without protest, sensing his worry and inner turmoil.

"Starrk…?"

"We're leaving."

"What?!" one round pink eye stared up at him in amazement. "But he was strong! He could stand our power!"

She was right; the man was more than capable of standing in Starrk's presence without dying. Normally, that would be all he needed to at least try to make a pack with him, to join with someone and be _not alone._ But he'd just watched the other man commit the cold-blooded murder of a troop of hollows that saw him as a pack-mate, and some of them had been very strong.

Some had been stronger than Lilynette.

An hour ago, Starrk had thought he would do anything, give up anything, to gain a companion. Now, he knew he had one thing he would _never _sacrifice, no matter if he had to remain alone forever.

"It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't…what?!"

He sonido'd away, making sure to conceal his trail and silence his steps. She automatically followed suit. They didn't stop until he reached the sekki cliffs, far beyond the borders of their usual territory.

"Starrk, what the hell? Stop ignoring me!"

"I'm not. Those hollows saw him as a pack-mate, and he killed them without a second thought."

Protests died on her lips and tiny clenched fists uncurled reluctantly.

"Why?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it. He was strong, but I wouldn't trust him to be our friend, even if he agreed. He'd stab us in our backs."

She scowled and scrubbed a hand over her face unhappily, tugging the hollow-hide garment around her more securely. Despite her obvious dissatisfaction, she didn't dispute his decision which meant she'd felt something wrong back there as well.

"You think he'll come after us?"

"If he finds out we were there, yes."

"So…what do we do?"

He sighed deeply, extending his senses to make sure they hadn't been detected or followed. The sands around here were riddled with tunnels leading inside the hollow stone spikes, so it shouldn't be hard to find concealment. It was a little known fact that the cliffs were composed entirely of reiatsu blocking sekki stone, just like the ceiling of the Menos forest. So if they were able to find one that was structurally sound and vacant, they would be effectively invisible once inside.

"We sleep."

"Staaa-aaarrk! You can't be serious!"

He shrugged, kneeling down and starting to dig out a tunnel with his hands and formed reiatsu. This had been so much easier when he had paws…

"We need to stay hidden and quiet. The best way to do that is to hide in one of the mountains."

"Why's it matter, anyway? We can just avoid him, or kill him if he finds us."

Starrk shook his head. "Where there's one shinigami, there's always more. If we kill him, I get the feeling we'll be in even more trouble."

"Hmph."

"Trust me, Lilynette." He looked back over the dunes, seeing the shinigami's cruel smirk and flashing sword in his mind. "Shinigami are nothing but trouble."

* * *

Aizen was not used to being surprised. He did not enjoy being surprised, either, because it usually meant his plans weren't going the way he wanted them to and that he'd better come up with a contingency plan, _fast._

Gin's news, when he'd expected just another report about weaker arrancar acting out, was definitely a surprise.

_Mountains _of uneaten dead hollows, with no visible battle scars. Arrancar whose masks seemed to have inexplicably shattered or split, with no prior warning. Human footprints in the sand. A reiatsu signature so vast and strong that it could be felt for miles. So intense, that it crushed the life out of everything around it.

Another vasto lorde, it had to be. One even more powerful than Barragan.

Aizen allowed a small smile to stretch across his lips. This could be what he was waiting for, if he played it right. He'd have to approach cautiously; each new vasto lorde required careful handling and manipulation to be convinced of his point of view. Barragan had needed force, Harribel had needed a demonstration, and Ulquiorra had needed physical proof (or illusory proof, in the case of Kyoka Suigetsu). This one would need some other promise or incentive.

He was just glad that Gin hadn't actually approached the creature; that boy was a good subordinate, but he had a distinctly negative effect on potential minions. One look and they ran for the hills. But that was irrelevant, as it had not happened.

The ranks of his espada would soon be complete, and when they were, he would be ready to march against Soul Society.

Victory (_Godhood!_) was so close, he could almost taste it.

* * *

**Wow, Aizen's in for a nasty surprise, isn't he? This one was tough to write. At first, I had no ideas and then I had too many. This is what I almost wrote:  
1. Close quarters – cell/cage – being sold to a shinigami?  
2. Close – keep your enemies close – captures Uryu who wakes up in Starrk's pillow palace with no idea where he is.  
3. Close – closed inside – fell asleep in a box/curled up in something getting boxed up, and gets sent somewhere on accident (Urahara's shoten because why not?).  
4. Close a metaphorical door/window – purposely forgetting or ignoring Aizen's plans  
5. Close to happening/failing – Gin came close to killing Aizen, Shinji came close to avoiding hollowfication, Aizen came close to making a mistake, Starrk came close to finding his own friends, etc.**

**As you can tell, I went with that last one: Aizen came close to being the first powerful person Starrk ever met. But in this case, he wasn't, Gin was, and Starrk promptly decided he'd much rather keep Lilynette safe than throw in his lot with the creepy shinigami. Aizen's gonna be pissed.**

**Note 2 (9/14): So this is the second to last pre-written installment. The next one will be up either Sunday, Monday, or next weekend (depending on RL). After that, updates will depend on my muse and will be much more sporadic.  
**


	11. Mist

**11. Mist**

The moors were a labyrinth of deceptive silvery light and unfathomable shadows under the glow of the full moon. Solid paths wound around and between dangerous, sucking pits of mud, bogs that would swallow you whole and leave nothing behind. By sight, the two were indistinguishable and the moonlight made the deadly mud look as solid and harmless as the dirt road. To make the situation even worse, mist hung thick in air, obscuring from view everything more than a yard or two away, but doing nothing to subdue the prevalent, oppressive scent of rotting peat from the bog.

Orihime Inoue was very, _very _lost.

She'd come to England with her brother, looking for a new start after their parents' abandonment. Sora had managed to find a nice English family in an small town willing to give them cheap board, and a groundkeeper's job that paid enough for them to live on. Orihime had originally been unsure about leaving her friends behind, but she was quickly coming to love the wide open spaces and strange new customs. Upon arrival, they had been given some very specific guidelines about how to act and what to do by the locals. Most were intuitive, but one stood out over all:

_**NEVER**__ try to cross the moors at night._

But Orihime hadn't realized just how late it had gotten, and now she was trapped on the far side of the moor from their little house. If she didn't come home, Sora would worry. And what would she do if she didn't cross? They didn't have enough money for her to stay at the inn, and she didn't have any friends yet.

Besides, it couldn't be _that _bad…right?

With a deep breath, she set off into the fog, tapping the ground with a long branch every few inches to check if it was solid. Within a minute, the road had vanished into the silver fog behind her. In five, she was hopelessly turned around and lost. The path she'd walked so many times in the daylight was alien and twisted by the moonlight and mist.

An eerie howl broke the night air, trembling and breaking across the moors.

She froze.

The baying wail sounded again, closer this time.

In the two weeks since arriving, she had _never _heard such a sound. It wasn't any of the hounds from the village. Maybe some special breed that had escaped from a nearby estate…?

This time, the lonesome cry was close enough to make the hair on her arms and neck raise, and her knuckles whiten as she gripped the stick hard enough for it to dig into her palm. This was no dog. Instinctively, she knew this not a domesticated creature, nothing she would have a hope in hell of defeating if it came down to an altercation.

It could only be a wolf.

Something moved in the fog, something _big. _She could see the moonlight glint off sharp fangs and light up those strange, wild eyes so they shone like liquid silver, an effect compounded by the reflections on its shaggy grey fur. The uniform color was only broken by one thing: a strange, circular black marking in the very center of its chest, which created the illusion of a black hole in its heart. The beast was _huge, _its shoulders stood even with her chest, and it looked longer than she was tall.

The magnificent animal stared straight at her for a long moment, large ears perked in her direction, bright eyes calm and aloof. Then, it threw its head back and _howled._

Nothing could have prepared the poor girl for the intensity of the sound at such close quarters. Without any conscious decision, she dropped the stick to clasp her hands over her ears, turned, and fled into the mist.

The wolf watched her go with mild interest.

Orihime did not make it very far. When the ground turned soggy and uncertain under her feet, she managed to regain control of her instincts and freeze. Instant death trumps potential mauling, apparently. She stood silently, breathing deeply and trying to calm her rapidly pounding heart. The wolf hadn't attacked her. There was no record of deaths from wild animals in the area, so that meant it wasn't hostile, right?

But there were many disappearances attributed to the bogs; what if some of them had actually met their fate at the wolf's fangs?

The bogs…

Oh. Shit.

Far, far too late, she realized she was standing within the border of one of the dangerous pits, feet slowly sinking through the mud and peat on the bottom. Instantly, she began to struggle but it only seemed to make the sinking happen faster. The sucking muck was already halfway up her calves, and inching steadily towards her knees.

She couldn't die like this! And to leave Sora all alone, after everything he'd done for her...

"No! No no no..."

Her quiet, broken litany didn't do any good. Soon, the muck was around her knees. She was tiring, but not making any progress.

"Girl, take my hand."

Suddenly, there was an arm crossing her vision. It shone oddly in the moonlight but she didn't notice, reaching desperately for her savior. He gripped her firmly, tugging her slowly but surely back to firm ground, easing her out of the mire in a way her desperate struggles could not have.

Finally free, she leaned against her savior and just trembled for a long moment, shock trying to set in. Her head refused to wrap around the fact that she had just escaped certain death.

"Hn." A broad hand tapped her gently on the back, but didn't push her away. "You're on my land."

"What..ah! I'm sorry sir! I was just trying to get home; I didn't mean to-."

Her words and intentions came to screeching halt the second she caught sight of her rescuer. He was a tall, brown haired man whose face was cast in shadow by the moon. However, two long, furry silver ears extended from the sides of his head and she could now see that his arms were bare but for coarse grey fur. What really captured her, though, were his eyes.

In the daylight, they might have been grey or blue but now they shone silver in the light of the moon. She had seen those eyes before.

"M-M-Mr. Wolf. Sir." Her voice quavered and those long ears twitched towards her.

"You're scared of me." His tone was flat and only slightly interested.

"I…! Uh…Th-thank you for saving me, sir." Her voice trembled with terror and she looked everywhere but at him. Had he saved her just so he could eat her himself? How was he able to look like a man? Was he a werewolf or something?

A warm, smooth hand cupped her chin, tilting her head upwards gently to meet his eyes. She trembled but didn't resist, not even when those distant eyes turned intense and seemed to pry into her very soul, or when she realized his fingers were tipped with a nasty set of claws. After a second of contemplation, he released her and stepped back.

"I'm not going to eat you, girl."

"Y-you're not?"

"No."

"Thank you, Mr. Wolf! I was so worried I mean you saved my life but I don't know why and I've never met anyone like you before. Are you from around here or did you come here and why hasn't anyone mentioned you?"

His ears flipped backwards at the sudden chatter and he eyed her with obvious bemusement.

"What are you doing in my territory?"

"Oh! I was just trying to get home. I'm sorry if I trespassed."

He shrugged, uncaring.

"Just be more careful next time." He yawned widely, displaying a sharp set of fangs. "You woke me up."

"Ah… Sorry?"

"Mhm."

He slumped his shoulders into a comfortable slouch (ears following suit to hang at half-mast) and turned to walk away. Orihime's eyes widened as she got a glimpse of his back and saw that he had a long, furry wolf's tail. (Also, his bare feet looked more like dog paws, but that was really secondary.)

After watching him walk away for a few yards, until the mist was starting to render him indistinct, he turned back to look at her.

"Well?"

"Eh? What?"

"Are you coming?" When she just blinked in confusion, he turned away, with another shrug and a yawn. "You're welcome to continue blundering around out here, if you want, but I won't be coming back to save you again."

"N-no! I mean, thank you. I'm coming!"

She hurried after him, making sure to follow only in his footsteps to avoid traps like the one she'd fallen into before. If he was willing to give her shelter until daybreak, she'd be able to find her way back home. And he didn't seem so bad…maybe she should cook for him, to show how grateful she was!

Ahead of her, Starrk twitched his ears irritably and yawned again. Some things just weren't worth waking up for.

* * *

**Another 3am story. I dunno…some sort of unholy cross between The Hound of the Baskervilles and Little Red Riding Hood…with some Beauty and the Beast thrown in for good measure? I had a really, really hard time coming up with anything for this prompt. But, for me, mist is a reminder of the moors of the old English countryside described in Sherlock Holmes; which, in turn, remind me of the dangerous (but awesome) peat bogs in the same area. So…yeah. Enjoy?**

**(Also, I should mention that I have never been to England and all of the information I know comes from BBC shows, old Sherlock Holmes novels, and internet research. ****I felt that I stayed general enough to be safe, but please let me know i****f there are any glaring errors.)  
**


	12. Dogs vs Cats

**12. Dogs vs. Cats**

"You're a _cat._"

"Hm?" Yoruichi directed a casual glance towards the child arrancar at the espada's side. He wasn't reacting, so it seemed unlikely that a conversation would result in a battle. In fact, he seemed to be thoroughly _ignoring _her. Now that was insulting. And confusing…so far, he'd shown no sign of underestimating threats. She drifted forward with a mischievous smirk.

"You could say that."

The little arrancar twitched, eyes widening as the ex-shinigami advanced. But the girl didn't look scared or angry. If anything, she looked… eager? Not the reaction Yoruichi had been expecting. Experimentally, she did a short flash-step to the side, reappearing ten feet to the left. This time the twitch was a full-on lunge, just barely aborted. The girl had a very familiar sort of hunger in her eyes. It wasn't a hollow's hunger, or bloodlust, or anything you might expect from an arrancar confronted by a shinigami. It was the thrill of the chase, the instinctual need to catch...

Yoruichi's smile widened.

"You're a _dog._"

"We are NOT!" the little girl planted small hands on hips and scowled ferociously up at the cat-woman. "We're WOLVES."

"We?"

A closer look revealed the older arrancar watching her just as intently as his companion out of the corner of his eye. He was better at hiding it, but the same instincts that the little girl was barely suppressing were evident in his tense muscles and ever so slightly twitching hands. Oh, he wanted to chase, alright.

Yoruichi's smile became downright evil.

Another flash step brought her directly in front of him. He shot her a cool glare, yawned, and looked away. Once again, Yoruichi flashed into his direct line of sight, advancing a few steps closer. This time he scowled irritably and actually addressed her.

"Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" Another step. His frown deepened.

"You're coming closer." The little girl piped up, annoyed. Neither adult acknowledged her.

"I have not been an adjuchas for a very long time. If you are trying to provoke me…"

"A wolf adjuchas, hm?" She purred, slinking forward another few steps. His glower fell into confusion and he drew back in surprise. Evidently, arrancar did not appreciate the 'finer' parts of life. A pity, he was actually rather good looking, if a little dark for her tastes. Or he would be, if he wasn't a soul-eating monster. No matter; she'd cracked a lot of tough nuts in her life and he was hardly the worst. This would be easy.

She crept forward, putting as much 'cat' into her movements as she could without shifting forms. If the wolf-espada got any tenser with his suppressed desire to lunge, he'd definitely snap. She stopped just out of reach (Kisuke would kill her if he knew the risk she was taking) and looked up at him coyly through her bangs.

For a moment, they just stood and stared at each other with the little girl grumbling and muttering to herself in the background. Then Yoruichi smiled, slow and feline, brushed her bangs back with one hand, turned, and _ran._

She _felt _him snap.

The chase was _on._

* * *

**Probably OOC, but I've been looking at too many pictures of chibi!puppy!Starrk (there aren't nearly enough of them). I was going to write the actual chase scene, but I suck at that. And I couldn't figure out what to do with Lilynette. Still, you can bet that Yoruichi led him on a merry chase around Karakura, culminating in his slamming head-on into a tree while she laughs overhead and Urahara sniggers behind his fan.**

* * *

**IMPORTANT NOTE: The index doesn't seem to be doing any good and is feeling more and more like a personal indulgence so I'm going to be taking it down and replacing it with a short one-shot and an 'updates' section. If you actually find it useful, please let me know. If I get enough reviews asking me to keep it , I'll just update it and leave it but otherwise I'm going to assume that it's annoying everyone else as much as it's annoying me, and I'll get rid of it.  
**

* * *

**A big thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed the story! You guys are the best!  
**


	13. Reviewer Prompt 1

**13. Reviewer Prompt #1  
**

Being in a gigai was…odd. Of course, it wasn't a true gigai, just a rough simulacra whipped up by Szayel to mimic the false bodies used by shinigami, but the concept was the same. There was a reiatsu limiter somehow built in, hiding Starrk from the shinigami and allowing him to safely mingle with humans (at least for short periods of time). Using it, Starrk could seamlessly interact with the physical world and its inhabitants.

Supposedly.

That was the point of this whole, uncomfortable undertaking: to test a working gigai for arrancar that would stand up under use of even the most powerful hollow. Since Starrk WAS the most powerful arrancar in Aizen's army, the task naturally fell to him.

The body felt small and constricting, not to mention ill-fitting. His enormous amount of reiryoku was all crammed into this small physical shape and he felt like, at any moment, the thin skin would rip and release death on the unsuspecting humans. Szayel had seemed pleased; he'd run a scanner over Starrk's form and dubbed the gigai ready for a field trial, at least.

So here he was, meandering around some human city that wasn't Karakura (he hadn't bothered to learn the name) trying to look like he wasn't a ticking time bomb of death bound in flimsy faux skin. He had a vague idea that he looked completely unnatural, and that at least some of the stares he was getting were in response to his strange actions. Others were likely because of his appearance.

The gigai was attuned to his specific spiritual appearance, so at least he recognized the face he saw in mirrors and window reflections. He was still tall and lanky, shoulders hunched forward as if eternally bearing a heavy weight on his back. His face was angular, with a faded goatee and apathetic blue-grey eyes. Long, wavy brown hair framed his face and fell down over the top of his collar. That was where the physical similarities ended.

In the physical world, he couldn't wear his arrancar uniform for some reason. Instead, he was dressed in comfortable black jeans, a casual blue T-shirt, and an unbuttoned black sports jacket. The collar of the jacket was turned up, concealing his neck, including where his mask would attach if he were in spirit form. His shoes were also black, though he didn't notice much more than that, and there was a silver chain leading from his belt loop to a back pocket.

The clothes were just another strange necessity of interacting with humans, although Szayel had seemed inordinately pleased when he picked them and a few of the female arrancar had given him appraising glances.

To him, his appearance was nothing special. Sure, he was the most 'normal' looking of the arrancar, but that was no great feat (especially with individuals like Aaroniero and Yammy in the ranks) and it didn't mean much, considering how varied hollow anatomy could be. He didn't know, or really care, what he looked like beyond how his form affected his skills.

The humans did not seem to follow this convention.

Attention was something he was used to; he was generally the most feared creature in any situation, with weaker hollows cowering and groveling if not outright dying in his presence. Even Grimmjow and Nnoitra thought twice before pushing his buttons. However, these humans were outright _staring; _especially the females. But if he turned to look at them or ask what they wanted, they would hurry away or turn and giggle.

There had to be something wrong with his appearance; he'd speak with Szayel on the matter when he got back.

Still…maybe…

"Hello, handsome."

"Eh?"

Someone was _touching _him.

A female human was standing in front of him, smiling oddly and blinking a lot. Her hand was latched onto his arm with a surprisingly strong grip.

"Hello…?"

She was tiny, at least a foot shorter than him, with hair a deep purple-black that could only be dyed. The laugh lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth indicated she was a good three or four decades older than most of the humans involved in the war. Her face was decorated with the same paint and powder that all female humans seemed to adore, and her clothes…

He had _no idea _how to explain what she was wearing.

More of that odd blinking. Was she fluttering her eyelashes?

"…Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

She laughed; a deep, throaty purr that instantly put him on edge. It reminded him of Ggio's 'hunting' façade: the way he would act after cornering his prey, right before ripping its head off and eating it.

"And _funny_, too! What's your name, stranger?"

"…Starrk..."

"Ooh…Exotic. Well then, Starrk…" she looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Care to join this lonely single woman for a drink?"

She was coming _closer_. By now, he was thoroughly discomfited. People (other than Lilynette and sometimes Aizen) didn't purposely stay in his presence OR touch him. They just _didn't_.

He surreptitiously tried to pull his arm out of her hold, but it was rock-solid. There was no way he was getting free unless he dislocated or broke her arm and then he'd have to deal with the crying and general hysteria…it wasn't worth it.

"I would really rather…"

"Wonderful!" She turned away, tugging him behind her. He followed reluctantly. "I'm Aimi." No she wasn't; he could sense the lie. "And I know this wonderful little bar that's just a few blocks away!"

A bar? What was that?

"In fact, I think some of my girlfriends are meeting there tonight!"

He was fairly sure that feeling in his gut was 'impending doom'.

"Of course, if you could think of any other, more _pleasurable _activities…?" She winked flirtatiously and he stared in mild panic.

"I like sleeping, but I'd rather-."

"Really?" her purr this time was downright feral and the hand on his arm started wandering…was she _feeling his bicep_? "I could go with that…your bed or mine?"

_Oh hell no._

"I think you should meet with your friends. I need to-."

"Oh, yes! They'll love you!" Her grip, if anything, got even tighter.

Forget the gigai; he'd be lucky to get out of this with his _life_.

* * *

**The exact quote was: "****I'd love to see how he reacts if some middle-aged woman from the World of the Living starts flirting with him…some sort of Jersey gossip queen catches him on a street and doesn't let him go". I'm not really sure what a 'Jersey gossip queen' is, or how to translate that into a Japanese setting (it didn't feel right to bring Starrk to the US), but I gave it my best shot!**

**Hope you like it, distraught . hallelujah! (Sorry the first half was so far off base)**


	14. Time

**14. Time**

"This would be really funny if it weren't so _stupid._"

Starrk grunted noncommittally at Lilynette, but really couldn't disagree. He had his right arm crossing his chest, obscuring his mask fragment and hollow hole, and his gun (Lilynette's form) tilted back with the barrel against his forehead. In his other hand, a manifested energy sword was grasped firmly, but directed towards the ground. Or, considering all of them were floating 80 feet in the air, towards his feet. His eyes were closed, and he was trying _really hard _not to notice what was going on directly in front of him.

Across the battlefield, the visored he'd been fighting looked equal parts angry, surprised, and worried. He could easily read their emotions, despite their manifested masks.

The source of all their ire was the small contingent of shinigami captains standing directly between the combatants. Now, considering the extremely atypical battle they had just come from (hybrids vs. hybrids, at the behest of shinigami vs. shinigami), this alone might not have been reason for confusion. However, the shinigami were attempting to protect **Starrk **from **Love and Rose.**

Some of the faces were familiar: both the pink-clad captain and his white-haired comrade were present (though he'd never seen them from this angle). Others were new: a massive bear of a man with long, scruffy black hair and metal piercings beneath his lips was accompanied by a dignified looking older gentleman with grey hair and stern features.

"Hollows!" the bear-man boomed out, his growling voice matching his form perfectly. "You dare show your faces in Seireitei itself?! For your arrogance, I will kill you, and display your masks as my trophies!"

"Ouch." This time, Lilynette's grumble was subdued, and only for Starrk's ears.

He grunted again, digging the barrel more firmly into his forehead and refusing to look at the _utterly ridiculous _situation.

Time travel…seriously? Well, time and dimension, actually. The past of a different dimension. Did Aizen even _know _how to use the hogyoku?

* * *

**An excerpt/preview of a different fic I'm considering writing where, when Aizen starts tapping into the powers of the hogyoku, he accidentally warps the dimensional walls around himself. This leads to gaps in the fabric between dimensions opening all over fake Karakura, one of which Starrk and his opponents fall through. They end up in Seireitei of the past, about 15-20 years after 'Turn Back the Pendulum'. Since the visored are wearing masks and Starrk is not, the past-shinigami automatically assume the 'hollows' are the bad guys in the battle.**

**I might still write the full story for this, so I'm not going to give away any more of the plot. It wouldn't be too long (3-5 chapters, 10-15k) so it's more likely to get written than some other ideas.  
**


	15. Deception

**15. Deception**

"Hey, Sensei?"

"Hm?"

Ichigo had to fight down a sneer as the new substitute teacher quirked an eyebrow in his direction but didn't even bother to open his eyes. The man was a disgrace to the teaching profession…all he ever did was sleep! At the moment, his gloved hands were clasped behind his head while his feet were crossed at the ankles and resting on his desk, forcing his chair to balance on its rear legs. He seemed totally unconcerned about the dozen or so students occupying the desks in front of him. It was a precarious position, and if it had been goat-face or geta-bōshi, Ichigo would not have hesitated to kick the chair out from under him.

Unfortunately, this man was a human teacher, and one whose good side he dearly needed to be on in order to salvage his grades. So many unexplained absences coupled with Kon's dubious social and scholarly skills were really starting to affect Ichigo's class ranking.

"Shouldn't we…you know, be _working_?"

This time, the older man opened one eye to regard him with mild amusement.

"Sure, Niño." The eye closed. "Don't you have homework or something?"

Ichigo ground his teeth, so hard that it was audible from the other side of the desk.

"Sensei. This is a supplemental class. We're supposed to be getting extra credit for the work we do while attending." Which was the entire point of being in _school _on a _Saturday afternoon_. If he'd known how useless this would be, he would have just skipped it to train with Zangetsu! It didn't help that most of the other 'students' in the class couldn't care less about their grades; the only real humans present were Orihime and Chad, everyone else was a shinigami. Toshiro had actually suggested using the time for a strategy and brainstorming session to consider what Aizen might be planning.

Ichigo, however, _did _care. He needed this grade! Besides, they had already gone over every fact they knew; 'considering Aizen's strategies' was quickly becoming 'wild speculations'. This class was supposed to be a break from all of that.

And it would be, if only the teacher would stop sleeping!

The older man let his student stew for a few minutes, waiting until his face was nearly as red as his hair before sighing and re-opening his eyes.

"Kid," At the absolutely _scorching _glare he received, he yawned but amended it. "Kurosaki-kun. According to my records…" he nudged a pile of manila folders at the edge of his desk with one foot "…you are here because you don't have time to attend class or finish your homework."

Ichigo muttered at the hanging question, scowling but not protesting.

"Therefore, I don't see the point of giving you _more _work. You can't even finish what you have."

The boy's scowl deepened but he couldn't really object; he really _didn't _have time. Of course, the human teacher couldn't possibly understand _why_; the magnitude of what was happening between Aizen and the shinigami would probably blow his mind. It would leave him gibbering in a corner or something.

Taking his student's continued silence and cooling temper as signs of acceptance; the teacher settled back into his chair and closed his eyes once again.

"If you really want extra work, prove you can deal with what you've got."

Ichigo let out a deep breath. His scowl wasn't gone but it was more defeated than angry now. The man had a point, damn it. But if the substitute shinigami wanted to maintain his class ranking, he really needed the bonus work.

"…I really need the extra credit, Sensei. Is there any way...?"

One fathomless grey-blue eye observed him for a long moment, assessing him. Ichigo tried to maintain eye contact but there was just something about this guy…he reminded Ichigo of the few times that Urahara had finally stopped goofing around and gotten serious. He was actually kinda scary.

How could a human do that?

"Tell you what, Niño." Ichigo snapped to attention, hopeful. "Since you seem so dedicated…more so than your classmates, anyway…"

As if on cue, Renji let out a loud snore and Toshiro started yelling at Rangiku. Neither conversationalist looked at the rest of the class.

"…I'll give you a writing assignment IF you manage to finish your other homework."

That…sounded good?

"You will need to write one page, on a prompt I assign."

That sounded really good. Provided, of course, there weren't any strings attached.

"You'll grade it, and everything?"

The teacher huffed quietly in amusement.

"Sure. Whatever." He yawned deeply, attention spent. "Now scram. Class is over."

Ichigo frowned but turned to leave. It wasn't ideal, but it could work…and he'd gotten what he wanted. But that guy…something about him was making Ichigo's subconscious stand to attention, hackles up and nerves singing with tension. He'd faced shinigami and hollows; the Grand Fisher, Kenpachi, and Aizen himself…and yet, this one powerless human man was pinging his radar. Why? The teacher hadn't done anything particularly threatening; in fact, he was considerably more reasonable and understanding than most of the instructors at the school.

With an irritated shake of his head, Ichigo dismissed the feeling.

It was probably just his hollow mask (or whatever that thing was) acting up again.

* * *

Starrk felt the kid's reiatsu leave the room, followed after a few minutes by the other 'students'. Once he was sure they were gone, he stretched luxuriously, opened his eyes, and stood up. It was the work of five seconds to lock the door and secure the room from shinigami detection. Since his was the last class of the day on the second most deserted day of the week, the high school was eerily vacant. No one was around to hear him 'call home'.

As he prepared his report for Aizen-sama, the primera considered the objects of his assignment.

First, the shinigami; their presence hadn't been surprising, although the sheer number of them was, as was the fact that they were attending _high school_ of all things. None of them were especially interesting to Starrk or Aizen, although Gin had sniggered quietly when informed that Hitsugaya was playing bodyguard for the humans. Starrk had pretty much resorted to ignoring them; none of them had realized what he was, and they showed no signs of becoming more observant in the future.

Second, the humans; they didn't live up to their hype. Aizen had explained that Soul Society had labeled them as ryoka, a threat, and that they were part of a small band that had managed to infiltrate Seireitei. In observing Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado, Starrk was forced to conclude that shinigami were far more inept than he'd ever believed. Both humans had high spiritual pressure, but nowhere near enough to be a threat to an espada-level arrancar or captain-class shinigami. The final human, Uryu Ishida, had decided not to take Starrk's class and so had snuck below his radar (so far).

And finally, in a class all his own, Ichigo Kurosaki: partially hollowfied human/shinigami hybrid. He was by far the most threatening of the crowd; the most powerful and paranoid. However, he was also very young and confused. His power was directionless, without the decades and centuries of training that his allies and enemies possessed, and he did not understand his hollowfication. It almost seemed like the kid didn't even _know _about his hollow abilities.

Finished with his report (Dear Aizen-sama: Nothing's happening. They don't know anything. They don't suspect me. Do I really have to keep doing this? Signed, Starrk.), the primera settled back once again, mind drifting to his conversation with Ichigo and the pending 'assignment'. Starrk didn't know much about the human educational system; all of his credentials had been forged by…someone at Los Noches (probably Gin or Szayel…he didn't really care which) so he had no idea what he was supposed to do. But it didn't sound too hard.

Actually… maybe he could turn this to his advantage. The kid didn't seem to expect much, and the class _was_ about extra credit and overcoming personal problems (which had come to mean 'skipping class to fight hollows'). If he phrased the prompts correctly, maybe Ichigo would answer some of Starrk's questions without even realizing it.

Of course, he'd have to be careful not to be too overt; any sign of personal knowledge about shinigami or Ichigo's 'recreational activities' and the ruse would be over in a heartbeat.

Hm…

This would require more thought.

A nap, Starrk decided, would make everything much clearer.

He'd worry about the assignment later.

* * *

**Explanation  
**

**So this was part of a bigger idea with mentor!Starrk taking an unwitting role in helping Ichigo deal with his issues with being a visored(NOT Ichigo/Starrk). It takes place while Toshiro's crew is in Karakura, after the SS arc and before the shinigami knew much about arrancar. It's also before Shinji and Hiyori show up. Trust me, if Shinji and his paranoia had been present, Starrk would have had a much harder time infiltrating the high school. **

**Anyway, originally the plot was for Starrk to be the proctor of detention, which Ichigo kept getting for missing class. Out of boredom and curiosity (and because he was allowed to), he started giving Ichigo extra credit writing assignments about vague concepts such as 'the darkness within', 'morality of soldiers under orders', and 'humanization vs. demonization of enemies'. He learns a lot about Ichigo from his answers and Ichigo starts to think about and work through his issues. Eventually, they start to talk about the assignments and Ichigo slowly comes to respect Starrk. This all goes to hell when Starrk is revealed as a spy by Grimmjow. There was lots of other stuff about Urahara, Isshin, coming to terms, the morality of the shinigami, and seeing the world in shades of grey rather than black and white.**

**But I never watched the Bount arc and I don't have the time to go back and do the necessary research. Not to mention, it turns out that Japan doesn't even practice detention, so the main concept wasn't feasible. I have no idea if I'll find the will to pull it out of the planning stages and into a fic.**

**Also, how do these one-shots keep getting longer? I only meant to write 300 words! :(  
**


	16. Awakening

**16. Awakening**

"A-HEM!"

Starrk grumbled and muttered, trying to turn away from the disapproving presence. Unfortunately, he could actually _feel _an unimpressed glower burning into the back of his skull while the speaker's annoyed reiatsu churned with steadily increasing aggression. It was impressive…until now; he'd never met anyone other than Lilynette who could wake him up with only the force of her disgust and a scorching glare. (Not that she did it often…she preferred the more physical 'jump on his kidneys until he cried uncle' method.)

With a groan, he tried to bury his head under the blanket.

Wait…blanket?

Finally giving up on getting back to sleep, Starrk squinted open his eyes and surveyed the pink…thing…he was lying under with utter confusion. That emotion carried on when he followed the annoyed reiatsu signature up to a black-clad, notebook holding woman glowering down at him.

"Shin'gami?"

Her glare somehow got even worse in response to his slurred, still half asleep, inquiry. An odd pressure on (in?) his temples was making it hard to gather his thoughts.

"What are doing with Kyoraku-taicho's kimono?"

"...What're you doin' in Los Noches?"

She frowned deeply, her expression somehow becoming even chillier. "We are not _in _Los Noches. Who _are_ you?"

"…Um…"

A quick pesquisa revealed absolutely zero arrancar or hollows and a horrifying number of shinigami in the immediate vicinity.

Uh-oh.

"Nanao-chan~!" A new, oddly familiar, voice interrupted his futile grasping for an explanation. "Have you seen my…"

A shogi door that Starrk hadn't realized was there slid open, revealing an unkempt male shinigami who smelled like alcohol and was holding his head in obvious pain. As if in sympathy, the strange pressure in Starrk's head blossomed into a killer headache…a _hangover_, the first he'd had since his death.

"…Oh, hello!" the new shinigami shot him a winning (if pained) smile which Starrk couldn't bring himself to reciprocate.

"Taicho, this…_man_…is with you?"

The primera didn't even register her tone of disgust through the sudden roaring in his ears (which somehow compounded the throbbing in his head).

Taicho_. Captain._

_What the hell happened last night?_

* * *

**I know, I know…the concept has been done to death. But, screw it, I thought it was funny.**

**There are three 'alternate endings' to this idea: Seireitei (this one- Nanao), Los Noches (they wake up in Starrk's pillow palace instead- Lilynette), and Karakura (they wake up in a random hotel room- Jushiro & human cast).**

**I might write out the others, but I don't know if I'll post them. They're just silly, shoddy little screwball ficlets, not full blown ideas, so scrapping them won't have much of an impact on…well, anything.**

**Please let me know if you liked it!**

**Reviews are loved.**


	17. Dæmon

**17. Dæmon**

_On the subject of d_æ_mons:_

_D_æ_mons are the physical manifestation of a human's emotional 'heart', and are thought to be the seat of their sense of empathy and spiritual power. As a living, growing child, this sense is still mutable and the d_æ_mon shifts in response to mood and whim. However, during puberty, beliefs and personality become more concrete, and the d_æ_mon 'settles' on a particular animal form that reflects the inner soul of the human. This generally occurs between the ages of 13 and 18, though exceptions as young as 7 and as old as 23 have been observed. It should be noted that exceptions generally occur in response to extreme emotional trauma or mental illness. It should also be noted that, while most d_æ_mons cannot move more than three meters from their human, certain sects undergo rituals capable of extending that range._

_While a human is alive, their d_æ_mon takes on the form of an animal that they have a 'deeper' connection to. It is often difficult to understand the subtle nuances of why a d_æ_mon chooses a particular form, and little stock should be placed in social stereotypes (ie. dogs belong in law enforcement, snakes are unreliable, ferrets are criminals, mice are cowards, etc.). As the second half of a soul, the d_æ_mon is as intelligent as a human and can speak any language that its other half can._

_Upon death, a d_æ_mon appears, to human eyes, to dissolve into Dust. In reality, it transforms into a plus's chain of fate. A plus will instinctively want to move on to Soul Society in order to regain the part of its soul that it can no longer communicate with. Once in Soul Society, the d_æ_mon will appear in the shape of the form it held in life but will be opaque or 'misty' and its voice will only be audible to its own human. More spiritual energy will give the d_æ_mon more substance, and reiatsu-potential can often be discerned by how solid a d_æ_mon appears and how many people can hear its voice. The d_æ_mons of shinigami are often virtually identical to those of living humans._

_If a soul is not sent to Soul Society before encroachment fully consumes the chain of fate, the d_æ_mon will be lost for good and the plus will transform into a hollow, devoid of emotions, empathy, and any connection to humanity. Hollows will forever feel a longing to fill the void left by their d_æ_mon, although they rarely if ever remember its existence, and will devour pluses in an attempt to alleviate that hunger and fill the emptiness within._

_-Excerpt from 'The Origin of Hollows and Shinigami'  
(First year study material at the Spiritual Arts Academy)  
_

* * *

Hollows do not have dæmons. That is a fact of life, and the one thing that has _always _justified the actions of the shinigami. No human would ever want to live without their dæmon; if there was anything left of the original soul, it would welcome being cleansed and reunited with its Heart.

Hollows do not have dæmons.

Starrk does.

He doesn't know it, of course. (Well, he didn't before Aizen showed up.) Human life is so far in the past that it isn't even a distant memory; the farthest he can remember is the _hunger _and the _loneliness, _the need to be _not alone._ And it's not like he'd encountered any dæmons in Hueco Mundo…how would he know what one is, let alone that he doesn't (shouldn't) have one?

So he reached inside and found that little sleeping spark in his soul, the first and last of his dormant humanity, and drew it out. It just seemed like the most natural thing to do… no one had ever told him such a thing was impossible, so he didn't even bother to consider the consequences. The resulting physical forms were likewise dismissed (although, at this point, 'arrancar' was not even a word in their collective vocabulary- removing their mask was just another choice, not a bid for power).

Lilynette was not what he'd expected but, somehow, she just felt _right. _

During the first few years, they barely moved from each other's side, relishing the feeling of being together (once again). Sometimes one or the other would dream of a quiet, lonely human boy and the tiny, overly rambunctious wolf cub who always watched his back, but they never spoke of it.

Starrk barely even noticed the strange tingling feeling as his hollow hole ever so slowly began to shrink, going from a hole nearly 15cm in diameter to one barely 7cm over the course of half a century. All he cared was that the emptiness was finally filled. Now his only problem was loneliness…

And then, there was Aizen.

Aizen who appeared from the night like a ghost, dressed in clean white and accompanied by a sleek shadow circling overhead.

Aizen who took one look at Starrk and extended a hand in friendship (and deception).

Aizen who took one look at Lilynette and, for the first time in over a century, faltered in absolute surprise and incomprehension.

Aizen who gave them a place to belong, a home, with companions if not friends.

Aizen who never, ever stopped watching them with his oddly probing gaze and eternally self-satisfied smirk.

It was only when Starrk and Lilynette met Gin with Mai, and Tousen with Nori that they learned what a dæmon was. Starrk's introduction to Aizen-sama's fraccion (although he didn't call them that…?) was strange, to say the least. Tousen ignored him, Gin said something humorous and sarcastic that flew straight over Starrk's head, and neither one seemed interested in him as anything other than 'just another hollow'.

When Lilynette followed him in, Mai and Nori snapped to attention so fast that Mai tripped and Nori's translucent wings missed a beat, causing her to fall onto Tousen's head. Gin had gone _still_, in a way he rarely did, and actually opened his eyes, while Tousen…continued to ignore all of them because he couldn't see what the big deal was, anyway. Lilynette scowled at them and shuffled behind Starrk.

None of them ever mentioned it again, although Gin's smile was always the tiniest bit strained when they were alone together and Mai's hackles never quite relaxed around Lilynette.

They noticed, of course. It didn't take a genius to make the connection between the natural human/dæmon relationship and the abnormal Starrk/Lilynette split-soul condition. But Starrk couldn't find it within himself to care; Lilynette was _his _and nothing would ever make him regret that, or care for her any less. They might disagree (loudly and at length) but he would never forget that they were two parts of a whole.

At first, Lilynette worried about her tendency to pick fights with Starrk, especially after seeing how Tousen and Nori interacted. The dragonfly believed in justice but, as Tousen's Heart, could not reconcile the betrayal of their friends with their ideals. Lilynette watched as the connection between them grew strained and…_dark_. She fancied that, if she saw Tousen's chest, she'd see a hollow hole growing steadily larger as Nori seemed to grow fainter and quieter, shrinking in on herself.

But Starrk _always _listened to her, even when he would rather be sleeping. If there was even the slightest bit of tension, he would put everything else on hold and make sure she was alright. Instinctively, she knew this was how it was supposed to be.

* * *

"You're just a pup…"

"I am NOT!" Lilynette snarled at the regal white akita reclining at the side of her human, ignoring the bemused shinigami observing their interactions. The dog was gaunter than was strictly healthy, but still held her head high with pride and strength.

"Apologies. I meant no offense."

"Hmph." The arrancar snorted and turned back to watch Starrk for a long moment, stealing curious glances at the two as they conversed in low tones. Or rather, as the shinigami tried to get his dæmon to explain the exchange and the dæmon remained silent in contemplation.

"Why do you fight?"

"Eh? What kinda question's that?"

"A logical one." The shinigami's dæmon hesitated for a long moment. "Where is your human? How did this happen?"

"Wha-?"

"You cannot truly be _loyal _to a _hollow. _That is-."

"SHUT UP!" The dog froze in shock, lips peeling back of her teeth instinctively. Her human's hand strayed to his zanpakuto. "Don't you talk about Starrk like that! He's better than all of your lot put together! An' he's _mine_!"

Man and dæmon froze in shock as they finally put two and two together…and came up with five.

"You're…" "How…?"

She sneered and turned away, pointedly refusing their attention. After a moment, she spoke over her shoulder. "Doesn't matter _how _it happened. We're…we just _are._ Not even you shinigami can change that." Her voice started abrasive and angry but faded until, by the end, she was speaking quietly to herself.

The akita's expression mirrored her shinigami's in worry and sadness, but just as she opened her mouth to respond, a distant shout caught all of their attention and Lilynette jumped into the air, speeding to Starrk's side.

Somehow, no one was surprised when Starrk revealed that he and Lilynette were two halves of one soul; or by the fact that she was included in Starrk's resurrection in the form of a young wolf wreathed in bluish green energy.

* * *

**So…this one sucks.**

**I had lots of fun picking the shinigamis' d****æ****mons, but Starrk and Lilynette just DID NOT want to be the main characters. Lily as Starrk's wolf d****æ**mon was just…too obvious and thus boring. Therefore, the focus of the story wanders way too far and there is no plot whatsoever. I deleted A LOT about the d**æ****mons of Aizen, Tousen, Gin, Jushiro, and Shunsui. Unfortunately, those were the parts I enjoyed writing the most…especially choosing meaningful names and species. I've actually come up with d****æ****mons for tons of Bleach characters (I think Hanataro's is my favorite).**

**This would really work better as a series of drabbles, one chapter per character/d****æ****mon pair, and it might evolve into that, especially since I want to explore so many more. Let me know what you think...I'm not sure how well received it would be.  
**

**Still…I felt I just HAD to include this. For SHAME, Bleach fandom: Not a single HDM fusion fic?! Normally there's at least one (Supernatural, Sherlock, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG1, Glee, Doctor Who, Final Fantasy 7, Harry Potter, Merlin, Avengers, Star Wars, etc…). I don't think I've ever found a fandom with NONE (although, to be fair, I haven't looked at too many anime series).**

**If one DOES exist and I've missed it, please let me know! I'd love to read it.**

* * *

**Please Review!  
**


	18. Guardian

**18. A Guardian's Dilemma**

It was quiet.

Starrk twitched, then sighed happily and burrowed into his massive pile of pillows. For once, maybe he could sleep uninterrupted for as long as he wanted. Aizen was too busy experimenting with the hogyoku to call a meeting, Nnoitra and Grimmjow were on separate missions to different parts of the human world (taking their explosions and arguments with them), Gin was off terrifying some other poor hollow, and Lilynette was…Lilynette was…

Where **was** Lilynette?

The primera paused and considered this for a long moment. She wasn't scared or in pain (he would feel it if she was) but her reiatsu signature was weak so she wasn't nearby. In fact, she was significantly further away than normal.

But Lilynette was an arrancar, not a baby, and she knew how to handle herself. She was obviously out there on purpose and of her own free will. Plus, if anything (arrancar or hollow) too powerful for her to handle showed up, it would recognize her as the primera's fraccion and be smart enough to steer clear. Therefore, there was no reason to worry.

Right?

Right.

Eyes still stubbornly shut, Starrk folded his hands behind his head and tried to relax, telling himself that she would return when she was ready, probably in the loudest way possible.

But visions of shinigami flickered in his mind's eye; monstrous creatures that would cut down a child arrancar without a second thought. Or Barragan, infamous for his short temper and blatant intolerance. Even Harribel's fraccion were powerful enough to accidentally hurt Lilynette if she took them by surprise or stumbled somewhere she was not supposed to be.

Every scenario was worse than the others and even though they ranged from 'extremely unlikely' to 'obviously impossible', the very thought kept Starrk tense and worried.

After ten minutes of keying himself up, he finally opened his eyes and levered up into a sitting position. There was no way he'd be able to sleep now; not without knowing for sure that Lilynette was safe.

Dammit.

With a grumble and a defeated sigh, Starrk stood up and set off in the direction of Lilynette's reiatsu signature.

* * *

**I think anyone who has ever taken responsibility for children (as a babysitter, parent, guardian, etc.) knows this feeling. When they're awake and present, you can't get a second to relax; but when you actually get the chance to take a break, all you can do is worry about them.  
**

* * *

**Also, I published that fic I was talking about last chapter! It's a drabble collection on Bleach characters and their d****æ**mons. Go check it out and let me know what you think!  



	19. Trespass

**19. Trespass_  
_**

_In an alternate universe, all souls reside on the same plane of existence. Humans still die, hollows are still created, and shinigami still fight for order in a universe that is naturally chaotic. However, Hueco Mundo shares a border with Rukongai, the humans are aware that they are not alone (although they can't see all of the creatures around them), and the shinigami have erected barriers in an attempt to separate the different territories._

_Unknown to all non-hollows, Hueco Mundo is also divided into territories, each one held by a vasto lorde or a Vasto Lorde class arrancar._

* * *

Starrk stared out over the barren landscape. This was his favorite perch, located deep within his territory and halfway up the tallest mountain in the Bone Peaks. It was comfy; an inset stone ledge protected from the wind by the surrounding rocks and lined with layers upon layers of pillows, blankets, furs, and anything else soft he'd been able to find over the years. From here, he could watch as his wolves patrolled the eastern borders, slinking in and out of the crystal trees in the foothills between his and Barragan's land and sniffing around the spire that Harribel had negotiated from Starrk (in return for limited access to her territory, the Forest). If he strained, or projected his consciousness into one of the reiatsu wolves, he would even be able to see the Deadlands far to the south, where the visored had taken up residence.

(And hadn't _that _been a laugh and a half. Boundaries set by centuries of hollow territory negotiations had been utterly demolished when the pack of homeless shinigami hybrids came blasting in, demanding land. They were lucky that not even Barragan wanted the Deadlands.)

Unfortunately, it didn't look like Starrk's peaceful ruminations would last for very long. He could hear Grimmjow's abrasive voice echoing from one of the lower valleys at the edge of Starrk's territory, coming steadily closer. He was accompanied by…a stranger?

Suddenly interested, Starrk brought his gaze to bear on the panther's position, taking in one familiar blue head…and one unfamiliar orange one. Strangers weren't allowed on Starrk's land unless they had his express permission. There were a select few hollows and arrancar who were tough enough and/or antisocial enough to prefer Starrk's desolate mountains to the desert or the forest, but each one had personally appealed, proven their loyalty, and been accepted into the Pack. They weren't Starrk's _fraccion_, by any means, but he was willing to tolerate them on his land. Grimmjow was one such hollow, although he hadn't so much 'appealed' as 'demanded'. But Lilynette liked him, and he was smart enough to know Starrk was out of his league (at least at the moment) so he was allowed to stay.

This person was _new _which meant they were _trespassing._

For a hollow, trespassing was synonymous with death.

With a deep frown, the arrancar descended from his perch to confront the duo below.

* * *

Ichigo was _not _having a good day.

He'd woken up to find that his father had been called to an emergency at the hospital to help stabilize the victims of a massive car accident. Yuzu and Karin were pretty good at taking care of themselves, but he still walked them to their elementary school to make sure they got there okay (Karin nearly kicked him for that one; Yuzu gave him a hug and handed him his lunch which he'd forgotten on the kitchen table). Then he'd set out for his school.

That was when things became…weird…

There were shinigami _everywhere_. Normally one or two squads would be wandering around, keeping a watch on the humans, ostensibly to protect them. Today, Ichigo saw no less than five squads and at least two lieutenants. He'd done his best to pretend they weren't there (since he wasn't supposed to be able to see them), kept his head down, and hurried to class.

Just as he was entering the gate, a fucking _cero _came out of _nowhere _and blew up the basketball court! Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the school was evacuated and the shinigami swarmed, trying to find the hollow responsible.

Ichigo found it first.

Or, rather, _it _found _Ichigo._

Grimmjow Jacker…something…had been dodging shinigami when he literally ran into Ichigo, nearly knocking him down. Instinctively, the human fought back, lashing out with his arms and legs. To both of their shock, his attacks actually did a small amount of damage. Grimmjow had been disturbingly gleeful and challenged Ichigo to a fight. He didn't take no for an answer and, five minutes later, Ichigo was lying on the street, leaking blood everywhere and wondering where the hell the shinigami had gone and why this hollow considered a random human a worthy opponent. Certain he was going to die, he'd been completely surprised when Grimmjow ripped open a garganta and left, taking his defeated foe with him.

After profuse swearing and flailing, the kidnapped human managed to find out that, to a hollow, a defeated enemy was either food or a subordinate. Somehow, Grimmjow had taken a shine to him so he was planning on making Ichigo his fraction (fraccion?). Whatever that meant.

Now Ichigo was being forced to climb some mountain in the middle of Hueco Mundo (and since when did Hueco Mundo have mountains; wasn't it supposed to be wastelands and desert?). He was unable to return home (how would he make a garganta?) and he had his doubts that Grimmjow would keep him alive for long. Plus, it seemed he was being taken to meet an even more powerful hollow, one who might very well decide to kill and eat him.

Worse, his abductor hadn't bothered to heal his injuries from the battle so Ichigo could barely move without wincing.

"Grimmjow."

At the new voice, and his captor's sudden halt, the teenager glanced up to find a surprisingly human-looking hollow. He did not look happy.

"Hey Starrk."

The newcomer just raised an eyebrow, casting his gaze over Ichigo before turning a pointed glance back to the blue-haired arrancar. Grimmjow grinned.

"This one wants to be a member of the Pack."

"No, I…!"

"Shut up!"

Starrk's frown deepened. "He's not a hollow."

Grimmjow scowled. "He's not really human, either."

…_What?_

"That doesn't matter. You know the rules."

"I beat him; he's mine!"

"Then take him to Barragan's territory."

With that, Starrk spun on his heel and walked away, stopping to gaze out at the mountains about five feet away. After a long moment, Grimmjow swore under his breath. (Ichigo didn't know it, but Barragan had long since declared Grimmjow a persona non grata, to be killed on sight, and Grimmjow really couldn't afford to alienate another Vasto Lorde. Starrk didn't know it either; he just didn't want to deal with Grimmjow's attitude.)

A quick sonido later and Ichigo was alone with Starrk.

* * *

"So...who are you?"

"Ichigo…Ichigo Kurosaki." The human (ish?) teen picked himself up from the ground slowly, favoring his wounds. After a long, hard look Starrk discerned that he was definitely human, even if he did smell a bit like a hollow…and a bit like a shinigami. It was an odd combination; Starrk could see why Grimmjow was confused. If he was only a human than this could work out without bloodshed, but if he was a shinigami...

"Hm. Ichigo Kurosaki. What are you doing in my territory?"

"Grimmjow _kidnapped _me!"

"He thinks you wanted to become his fraccion."

"WHAT? No! We got in a fight, he won, and then he grabbed me."

Starrk sighed deeply, not quite rolling his eyes.

"Kid, what do you know about hollows?"

"Erm…they're giant spiritual monsters that eat human souls?"

Startled at the brazenness of the insult, Starrk turned to look down at Ichigo. The human met his incredulous glare with a totally blank, innocent expression. After a long moment, with Ichigo becoming more confused and uncomfortable by the second, Starrk sighed again and turned away.

"Rule number one. Those are not hollows, those are _gaki. _Comparing any hollow in Hueco Mundo to one of those is an insult, and will get you killed."

"Oh." Ichigo muttered, looking away in embarrassment.

Starrk frowned, and continued.

"Rule number two. The only laws are those enforced by the alpha of whatever territory you're in. He or she is always the _only_ Vasto Lorde in the territory. Smaller packs are also common; they are comprised of a high level Adjuchas or Vasto Lorde and several fraccion. Fraccion are a type of…personal subordinate."

"Pack? I thought hollows were…well…"

"…Mindless monsters?"

"…Er…"

"Hm. Well, you've been misinformed. Hollows are considerably more instinctual than shinigami, but we still started human, the same as every other soul. Also, it isn't _hollows _that routinely commit genocide; we fight for food. I don't know what the shinigami fight for, but they've amassed quite the body count over the years."

"'Good point. But some hollows attack humans for sport."

"Hollows or gaki?"

"…Gaki."

"A gaki is a soul that is too cowardly to become a hollow. Instead of finding prey in the Forest and fighting their way through evolution, they flee and target weak human souls. A true hollow only eats other hollows."

"Oh, you mean like a Menos Grande?"

Starrk froze, body tensing. The next time he spoke, his voice was low and dangerous, just short of a growl.

"Yes. That is a shinigami term, Niño, not a human one. You could only have learned it through personal interaction with a soul reaper. Explain."

At the sudden shift in tone, Ichigo froze. The calm reiatsu that had surrounded the older man was suddenly churning dangerously, ready to rip Ichigo to shreds at its master's whim. He hadn't noticed before due to Starrk's control and lack of aggression, but this hollow was _powerful. _Many times (at least) more powerful than Grimmjow, It was suddenly very obvious that Starrk was a Vasto Lorde, and as such the alpha of this territory.

He was also the hollow that Grimmjow warned him would kill and eat him if Ichigo didn't play his cards right. And now Ichigo had made him angry.

The human swallowed nervously, meeting the now-suspicious glare of the arrancar.

A very bad day, indeed.

* * *

**I know it ends abruptly, but it was pushing 2k and when it hits THAT mark, it pretty much becomes a story to be posted on its own.  
**

**Also, I know it sucks, but I'm just glad to get something out this weekend. Normally I aim for Friday but the past couple of weeks have been difficult for personal, RL reasons. Also, the story buffer I wrote got used up last chapter (all except the zombie segment, but that sucked) so I couldn't keep updating regardless of my issues. **

**Umm…right. The chapter. There's quite a bit of head-canon in there along with the whole 'AU lumping the spiritual and physical dimensions together'. As always, there's a greater fic that this situation fits into that I might elucidate on in the future. I know the characters are a little OOC, but I don't have time to fix that right now. I'll do it later, probably in the middle of the week. If demand is great enough, I might tack on a few scenes to give Ichigo some resolution, too.  
**

**I'll try to get a chapter out for Halloween (werewolves or zombies or something), but no promises.**


	20. Reviewer Prompt 2

**20. Reviewer Prompt #2**

"…What?"

Starrk could only stare blankly at the Cuatro, who was standing in his room. It figured that the _one time _he let Lilynette drive him away from his bedroom, which was usually silent and undisturbed, he'd come back to find that something significant had happened in his absence. Ulquiorra was standing in the very center of the dimly lit chamber alongside a hunched, kneeling figure that was facing away from the door with its head bowed down so far that its forehead was only six inches or so from the floor. Starrk could see a fall of long pale hair and dark clothes, but that was about it.

"Aizen-sama wishes for you to deal with the prisoner."

The kneeling figure stiffened but didn't (couldn't?) move.

"…We have a prisoner?"

His only response was a blank stare, which held just the vaguest touch of disdain. If Ulquiorra ever deigned to show emotions, he probably would have sneered in contempt.

"You will speak with Aizen-sama if you have any further questions."

And with that, the younger espada stepped past Starrk and vanished down the hallway, leaving the prisoner behind.

For a long moment, Starrk just stood in the doorway and visually inspected his bedroom with displeasure. There was a _reason _he didn't like other hollows near his things: they tended to destroy them. In this case, Ulquiorra had moved Starrk's favorite pile of pillows away from its normal perch, scattering the components of his comfortable nest to all corners of the room. It would take him _days _to compile the pillows into a satisfactory mound and reform a comfortable body imprint in the resulting 'bed'.

With a grumble, he finally entered the room and kicked the door shut behind him.

"You don't have to stay like that, you know." He pointed out idly, not bothering to turn on the lights as he shuffled past the prisoner and started to gather his pillows.

The other person let out an incredulous, seemingly asthmatic huff of indignation.

"Yes, I do."

"Hm?"

The voice was feminine and somehow serene and uncomfortable at the same time. His first instinct had been correct: the asthmatic wheeze of lung problems underscored her words, and made her position all the more puzzling. Finally interested, he kicked the last few pillows into a loose pile in the corner furthest from the door and approached his 'guest'.

She attempted to pull away or at least sit up but something stopped her. For the first time, Starrk observed that the female was chained by a short leash fastened at one end to the stone floor, and at the other to a reiatsu binding collar around her neck. Her wrists were bound together behind her back, and her ankles were tied in a similar fashion, keeping her in that one uncomfortable position.

The primera whistled lowly and crouched at her side, reaching out to tug gently at the leash. When she gasped quietly in pain at the change in tension, he pulled his hand back.

"You must have caused Ulquiorra quite a lot of trouble for him to leave you like this." He hadn't even left Starrk a way to free her.

She gave a humorless chuckle, but responded gamely. "I rather think it was Aizen that I offended."

"…You're a shinigami."

She stiffened noticeably, and her response was not quite defensive, but definitely anticipatory of violence.

"Yes. I am."

"Hn."

It didn't take a genius to figure that out: her dark clothes were obviously a shinigami's black kimono, although the garment was considerably more ragged than normal. The scent of her reiatsu, even bound by the collar, was also a dead giveaway.

Curious now, Starrk reached forward and brushed the long white hair (and now he could see it _was _white, not just pale blond) away from her face. Wary brown eyes met his grey gaze, although she had to crane her neck up and strain against the bindings to make it work. She was pretty, with fine-boned features and a thin face that looked like it would be better suited to wearing a smile rather than the serious frown she was now sporting.

Starrk took a long moment to examine her, meeting her eyes unflinchingly and trying to get a handle on her character. She was surprisingly calm for a shinigami, especially one in her situation. What was more surprising was that there was no fear in her expression, just a sort of wary determination.

He could respect that…she had to be feeling the pressure of his reiatsu, and to know that she was helpless in the custody of one of the most feared hollows in Hueco Mundo, but the knowledge didn't faze her in the least. She wasn't even struggling against the massively uncomfortable bindings.

He pulled back and stood up, stretching and yawning. She tensed again at finding herself eye level with his lower legs. It was understandable…In that position; she was blinded to the actions of his upper half and for all she knew, he could be preparing to attack her.

Growing bored at the debacle, Starrk threw himself onto his new pile of pillows, stretching out luxuriously and yawning again.

"So…shinigami-san, what are you-."

"Ukitake."

Startled at being interrupted, Starrk eyed the shinigami with confusion. "…Eh?"

"My name is Jushiro Ukitake. Captain of the Thirteenth Division."

Starrk's brow lifted in surprise. Aizen managed to capture a _captain_?

"Alright. So…_Taicho-san, _what are you doing in Los Noches?"

"It is customary to respond to an introduction with one of your own."

This time, Starrk's eyebrows lowered in disbelief at the female's audacity.

"'Scuse me, _Miss. Taicho-san_, but you're not really in a position to be making demands."

She eyed him, presumably evaluating whether it would be a good idea to press her point. Evidently she decided against it because, with a tight-lipped frown, she looked away.

It was a good thing she had, too. If she proved to be too much trouble, Starrk would just roll over and go to sleep. If she made too much noise, then he'd choose a different room to sleep in and leave her alone. For him, the forced solitary darkness was nothing new or scary; but for a shinigami, who knows?

Her tone was flat as she finally responded to his earlier question.

"One of Aizen's espada managed to take me by surprise while I was traveling in the human world."

"Espada? Which one?"

"The one that was here before. Ulquiorra, I believe."

"Hm. Yeah, that's his name."

Both of them were silent for a long moment, during which Starrk's eyes strayed to the other side of the room and began to droop closed. Despite his apparent weariness, he took careful note of her labored breathing and restless shuffling.

"Was it because of your lung thing?"

Her head snapped up as far as it could, expression suddenly hard and suspicious.

"What?"

"Is that how he caught you by surprise? Because you couldn't breathe?"

"How did you…?"

He shrugged languidly, turning over onto his back and taking his gaze off her completely.

"You breathe funny; I can hear it. You also smell kind of…off. Like you're sick."

She was silent for a long moment before responding with quiet resignation…not for her current position, but for the illness that caused her such problems.

"…Yes."

"Hm."

They both fell silent once again.

* * *

Several minutes later, Ukitake was just beginning to think the hollow was asleep, and that she could start working on her restraints, when he spoke up again.

"Starrk."

"…I'm sorry?"

"You asked earlier. My name is Starrk."

"Oh…"Maybe he wasn't _that _unreasonable. He certainly wasn't like any of the other arrancar she'd been forcibly introduced to. "That's all?"

"Coyote Starrk. But just 'Starrk' is fine."

"…And your rank?"

He gave a loud yawn and turned away from her.

"Doesn't matter."

She frowned in annoyance but didn't push. He had apparently dismissed her existence and was now burrowing down into his pillows in preparation for falling asleep.

Once his quiet breathing had evened out and deepened into snoring, the shinigami finally got the opportunity she'd been waiting for to begin working her way out of the restraints.

* * *

**FINALLY another reviewer prompt filled. There's one more in the queue (yours is next, LovePsycho!).**

**I'm…not sure how I like this. The original prompt from 'warrior's chick' was 'fem!Jushiro +Starrk with Jushiro taken prisoner'. The prisoner part was interesting and fun to write but genderbending isn't really my thing, so I don't know how well I did. Also, I've never written Ulquiorra before...depending on how I looked at it, he was either ridiculously easy or extremely difficult; there was no middle ground.  
**

**So...let me know how I did!  
**

* * *

**Updates this month and next month are going to be sporadic at best. I've got so many deadlines coming up that it's just not funny. After January fifth, things might settle down (at least I hope so). We'll see.**

**This COULD mean that I won't update at all, because I'll be burnt out form networking so many people and writing 6-9 single-spaced formal essays. It could ALSO mean that I start writing a LOT in order to procrastinate. I don't know yet…I guess we'll all find out.**

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**Please read and review!**


	21. Whistle

**21. Whistle**

It takes a great deal to make Starrk angry. Normally, he's a pretty laid back guy, renowned for his lazy attitude. However, in every evolved arrancar resides the base predatory nature of a primal hollow. Those aggressive instincts might be buried deeply (more deeply in Starrk than in most), but they're still there somewhere.

The only thing absolutely guaranteed to rouse 'the monster within' is danger to Lilynette, but that is a rare occurrence: her reiatsu signature is the same as his and her scent is likewise marked. As such, it is impossible for another hollow to not know who she 'belongs' to. NOBODY, not even Aizen, is willing to provoke the primera on purpose.

For a very long time, Starrk thought that was the only thing that could raise his ire.

Then Aizen showed up, and with him came the bane of Starrk's afterlife: Gin Ichimaru.

Apparently there was a shinigami back in Seireitei who Gin had never managed to get a rise out of with his pranks. The other captain was too old, too savvy, and too laid back to respond with anything other than good-natured amusement or a return prank. As a result, Gin's attempts became more and more elaborate and destructive until Aizen had to instruct him to keep it down, in order to avoid drawing attention. Ichimaru never got a reaction, and he blamed it on the fact that he was forced to restrain himself.

According to him, the next logical step was to find someone similar to the other captain and prove he could get a reaction from _them._

And then he met Starrk.

The silver-haired menace promptly decided on the primera as his new target, and made it his mission to get a rise out of the arrancar. This turned out to be easier said than done because if Shunsui Kyoraku considers laziness a way of life, then Starrk elevates it to an _art form._

Starrk quickly became aware of Gin's mission but, frankly, didn't care. He easily avoided the booby traps (although the tripwires in his sleeping chamber were annoying), doesn't care how he looks (Lilynette got a good laugh out of the sharpie writing on his face and the food-dyed clothes, though), and reiatsu traps broke in his presence. Even when Gin managed to 'get him', Starrk didn't react because he thought it was a waste of time. None of it was more than moderately annoying; he suffered worse from Lilynette's 'wake up calls'.

Then Gin pulled out the big guns.

* * *

At first, Starrk has no idea what is going on. He is sleeping peacefully when a horrible, piercing _shriek _rends the air. Instinctively, he lets out a startled howl and jumps out of bed, shaking his head and clamping his hands over his ears. The noise was so loud that his ears ring for almost a half hour afterwards. Once he pulls his hands away (cautiously) everything is silent again.

But the same thing happens the next day, when he tries to take his mid-morning nap. And again that night, for his evening nap. Nobody else hears anything, and there doesn't seem to be any explanation.

After three days of unexplained high pitched screeching and whistling, Starrk is surly and his figurative hackles are raised. He is more than ready to eviscerate whoever is responsible for his lack of sleep.

It is then that he encounters Gin.

The shinigami greets him with an (unfortunately) characteristic: "Aw, is da puppy haven' trouble sleepin'?"

When Starrk literally growls in response, Gin laughs out loud and his smirk grows …suspiciously…wider.

Then, the primera understands.

In a flash, he has the silver haired man pinned to the wall by the neck.

"What. Did. You. Do."

"Nothin'!"

Starrk is on the verge of baring his teeth and charging a cero when they are interrupted.

"Ahem."

"Ey, Taicho!" Gin smirks.

Starrk freezes, growl dying in his throat as the almost-threatening presence behind him comes closer.

"Starrk-san? Is there a reason you are attacking my subordinate?"

For a long moment, Starrk considers complaining and demanding Aizen get Gin to stop. However, that sounds petty and is far beneath his dignity. Not to mention, the powerful ex-shinigami is unlikely to care.

"…No, Aizen-sama."

Reluctantly, he releases the grinning man and steps back to the middle of the hallway. Irritated but resigned, he notes that Aizen has already dismissed the occurrence and is preparing to move on. However, when he's in line with Gin, he pauses to glance closely at a piece of jewelry around his second's neck. After a moment of realization, he shakes his head in mild amusement.

"Gin, please desist with the dog whistle. My primera needs his rest."

"Aww…" But the younger shinigami draws the necklace up over his head and holds it, along with the silver whistle it bares, out to Starrk. Suspicious, the arrancar draws closer slowly but before he can grab the chain, Gin draws his arm back over his head and throws the whistle to the other end of the hallway.

Starrk glares at him and is met with another slit-eyed smile.

"Go on, fetch!"

The primera stares at him incredulously, and then shifts his gaze almost pleadingly to Aizen, but the other man only looks patient and inscrutable, as always. There is no assistance to be had there; Gin always comes before the arrancar in culpability, even when he is at fault.

Humiliated and angry, Starrk sonido's to the end of the hall, grabs the charm, and vanishes back to his bedroom, pretending not to hear Gin's bark of laughter at his back.

He isn't interested in getting even (revenge isn't his style) but he keeps a weather eye on the shinigami from then on.

And if occasionally the silver-haired trickster finds his shampoo mixed with pink hair dye, or his uniforms switched with Grimmjow's, there is no proof of the primera's involvement.

* * *

**I'm back!**

**Sorry for the absence; I'm not sure my RL responsibilities are resolved yet but I have some time for writing this week. And something's better than nothing, right? Even if this chapter isn't my best. Actually, I hate it, but it's been through enough re-writes that I think it's as good as it's going to get. I've been experimenting with tenses, due to some recent nasty critiques on my writing style, and different characters, because this story is beginning to feel repetitive. **

**Speaking of which, does anyone have any good Starrk-centric fic recommendations? I seem to be losing inspiration, and there are only so many times I can read his part in the manga, watch the espada fights in the anime, and watch the limited number of Starrk AMVs on youtube. T****hat's not much material to work with, even for**** one of my favorite characters. I'm hoping to continue this fic for a while longer, but if I can't find the will to write, it might meet an early end (although I will make sure to finish all of the prompts that I accepted).  
**

**Hm...what else...? Oh! Last week's installment in the 'Thousand Year Blood War' (or whatever Kubo's calling the Quincy!arc) was...I don't even KNOW. Personally, I feel that the series ended with the completion of the Arrancar arc, but I've been keeping up to date with the major plot points and the Unohana/Yachiru/Kenpachi revelations of this chapter were startling, to say the least. Sorry Shunsui and Squad 0, but your parts just didn't have that same shock factor.  
**

**It's beginning to feel like Kubo's either gone insane, or has been kidnapped by rabid fans who are forcing him to make their crack theories canon.  
**

* * *

**Please Read and Review!  
**


	22. Snow

**22. Snow**

The first winter that Starrk lived in Seireitei was spent in the fourth division, horrifically sick from exposure. It wasn't really his fault; no one ever explained to him that his newly vulnerable body was susceptible to illness, or that standing barefoot in the snow and rain could make a person sick (falling asleep outside probably didn't help). On the plus side, he'd made an interesting acquaintance in the form of Unohana-taicho. Isane was still wary of him, though.

By the second year, he had become more used to being a shinigami and the limitations it entailed. He was more comfortable around his peers, too; Hirako and Hinamori had stopped looking at him like he was a bomb about to go off, and Starrk had stopped being confused and irritated by Shinji's constant mocking. He'd also made some surprising friends amongst his former enemies; Komamura was refreshingly honest and non-militant, Matsumoto shared Starrk's love of laziness, and Yachiru constantly tried to include him in her games with Lilynette. He wasn't sure how the pink-haired terror heard about his affiliation with wolves, but he spent a good deal of time hiding from the little girl and her desire to 'play with the puppies'. Through them, he'd met plenty of others, some he was friendly with and others who would be more than happy to kill him because of his former rank.

Relations were still strained with Kyoraku (Starrk had trouble calling him anything other than 'taicho-san') due to…well, his killing of the primera and responsibility for the former arrancar's current state. However, Shunsui was more than willing to be friends, and Ukitake was steadily wearing down Starrk's resistance to the idea. The white-haired captain was just so _nice_. Even Lilynette, who had come to Seireitei hating Jushiro even more than Shunsui, liked him now. Somehow, he had managed to coax her into taking regular lessons in reading and writing at the thirteenth division (she was doing very well).

With so many people willing to advise him this time around, Starrk approached the winter weather with cautious curiosity. The phenomenon had lost its novelty (turns out, rain isn't restricted to winter) but he still marveled at the intricate snowflakes and the pure white winter wonderland they created overnight. This time, he made sure to dress appropriately before going outside, donning the scarf and shoes Ukitake had given him and checking that Lilynette had done the same (she'd long since given up her scanty arrancar getup in favor of a modified shinigami shihakusho).

Once both of them were ready, they set out for a small wooded area between the fourth and fifth divisions. It was just a small patch of green, not a true park or courtyard, but it was peaceful and usually isolated. Lilynette had found it one day while Starrk was snoozing on the fifth's roof, and promptly made it 'her' place.

Today, the lawn was sparkling white under over a foot of snow, and the trees were barren and drooping under the weight of their own ice load.

"Ha! Awesome!" Lilynette darted forward happily, leaving her guardian at the edge of the yard, where he brushed off a low wall and settled down to watch. She spent the next twenty minutes tracking footprints in the snow, checking on all of her usual favorite places and exploring the effects of the winter weather.

"Look, Starrk! Yachiru told me how to do this…" She flopped down, wind-milling her arms and legs energetically and then springing back up to look at the pattern. Starrk, who had jerked up in slight alarm when she vanished beneath the snow, came over to look.

"…What is it?"

"An angel! They're called 'snow angels'."

"Huh. Interesting. " It looked like an imprint of Lilynette, with blurred arms and legs from the folds of her clothes, and her flailing. "What's an angel?"

"…Uh…"

"It's a figure from western folklore." Both of them turned to look at Ukitake, who was standing a few meters away on the fourth division side of the yard. It was evident that he had just come from a consultation with Unohana; his face was pale, his clothes were warm and heavy, and there was a bottle of medication in one hand. His tentative smile broadened when neither of them moved away or appeared uneasy at his presence (a massive improvement from a few months ago).

"Oh?" Starrk cocked his head questioningly while Lilynette looked down at her 'angel'.

"Yes. They are religious symbols; supernatural figures with wings and long robes. I'm afraid I don't know much else."

"Yah, that's okay." Lilynette waved a hand in dismissal, and then perked up. "Hey! You can help us build a snowman!"

"Ah…" The captain's response was cut off by Starrk's confusion.

"A what?"

"See, you roll three BIG balls of snow up, and stick rocks in the head for eyes and a nose, then put a hat on the top so it looks like a head!"

As she began to busily pack snow together, Starrk observed the sick shinigami. Jushiro wasn't looking so good; his coloring hadn't changed but his breath was hitching and he seemed to be shrinking into the thick scarf tied around his neck. There was no way he'd be able to play in the snow, but he obviously didn't want to disappoint Lilynette by saying 'no'.

"Well?! C'mon! Help me build!"

"Alright, alright." Starrk yawned but set to work packing snow together. "But I think Ukitake-taicho's got some work to do."

"What?" she looked at her guardian in surprise, taking in the meaningful tilt of his head. After a surreptitious, careful look at the captain, she nodded slightly to show she understood. "Oh. Okay. Maybe later?"

"Ah, yes. I'm afraid it will have to be." Ukitake smiled warmly, shooting Starrk a grateful look. The former primera hmph'd slightly and yawned, pretending to be unaffected and disinterested. Undeterred, the captain chuckled and shook his head. "Happy holidays, you two. Don't stay out too late! We wouldn't want you getting sick again."

"Bye." Lilynette waved half-heartedly over her shoulder and Starrk nodded, with a quiet "Happy Holidays" at the retreating shinigami.

"SNOW!"

"Whoa!" A pink _blur _knocked against Starrk's legs, nearly sending him sprawling in the snow on its way to Lilynette.

"SNOWsnowsnowsnowsnow!" Yachiru jumped on Lilynette's back, cheering. "It snowed, Lily!"

The older girl staggered at the impact but grinned cheerfully.

"I know! Look, I'm making a snowman!"

Yachiru blinked at the still small mound of unformed slush, and frowned. "It's too small! Make it bigger!"

"I _know_. Let's make it _huge_!"

"Yeah!"

Forgotten, Starrk shuffled backwards and returned to his perch on the edge of the yard to watch as the kids released their energy on the unsuspecting landscape. Yachiru was even more enthusiastic than Lilynette, and he was grateful that they had become friends so easily. As an arrancar, his other half had never had anyone she could call a friend, or any toys to play with. Now she could indulge her younger side, and, at Yachiru's urging, often did (regardless of how often she protested that she wasn't a kid).

It was heartwarming to see her so genuinely _happy._

"No no no! We need to make it BIG! Like Ken-chan!"

"Huh. Screw _that. _Let's make it a snow WOLF!"

"Nuh-_uh_!"

Starrk chucked quietly and settled back. It would be a long afternoon.

* * *

That night, Starrk found himself returning to their quarters with a quietly snoring Lilynette sleeping in his arms. She and Yachiru had played long and hard, winding up with multiple snowmen; Zaraki, a wolf, Starrk, a dead snow-hollow that the first three had apparently killed together, and a snow _woman _in the interests of equality (apparently Rangiku had spoken to Lilynette about the SWA, and Yachiru was already a member). They all looked like funny shaped lumps of snow to Starrk (although of impressive size), but he'd wisely kept quiet about that opinion and praised the spikes of snow-Zaraki's hair, the snow-hollow's blood (made from crayons and food coloring that Yachiru was carrying), and other details.

After that, when the kids were finished with their sculpting and finally starting to falter, Unohana-taicho showed up and scolded all of them for being out in the cold too long. Cowed, even Yachiru apologized and followed the woman back to the fourth division for 'treatment'. (She was _scary.)_ After she was finished lecturing them, Hanataro made all of them hot chocolate and invited them to dinner in the fourth's mess hall, which they gladly accepted. Starrk was surprised and slightly dismayed when Hirako-taicho slid into the seat across from him, grin a permanent feature on his face. No doubt he'd been planning to chide Starrk for slacking and assign him double the work tomorrow (to enable his OWN slacking. Hypocrite). However, Yachiru managed to start the conversation first and Starrk found himself smugly amused when the visored was forced to listen to twenty minutes about snow-battles and snow-Zaraki vs. the snow-hollow instead. Starrk finished first and slipped away, leaving Hirako to his fate in favor of wandering the corridors of the fourth.

It turned out he _should _have stuck around because, when Lilynette found him ten minutes later, she was rattling on about snowball wars and how awesome it would be to have one in the snow outside of the sixth. Starrk wasn't sure what sort of magic Yachiru worked on Byakuya that let her get away with so much, but he wasn't sure he trusted the uptight noble around Lilynette.

At that point, Yachiru was gone (Yumichika finally tracked her down to take her back to the eleventh) and Lilynette was yawning every few seconds, nearly asleep on her feet. Halfway home, Starrk picked her up and she barely noticed, snuggling against his chest and falling fully asleep. Once they arrived, he woke her up so she could change into warm clothes, but then she curled up in bed and fell asleep.

Warm, dry, full, and surrounded by the flickering reiatsu presences of Lilynette and the shinigami, Starrk settled back into his own bed. In his long afterlife, he'd been through a lot of strife and pain but this was the first time he'd ever been so…content.

No, not just content. _Happy._

The former primera espada fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

**Merry Christmas, everyone!**

**For a while, I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish this in time but here it is. Hope you like fluff! :)  
**

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**Some side notes on the setting:**

**-For the record, I believe Starrk survived the Karakura battle and will return in the manga at some point, but that isn't what happened here.**

**-In this universe, Starrk and Lily were 'cleansed' during the Karakura battle and wound up in Rukongai, then the academy, and finally as shinigami in the fifth division.**

**-Their memories and spiritual pressure are fully intact (although Starrk tends to pretend they aren't).**

**-Starrk made a conscious effort to avoid anyone who would recognize him. For a long time, no one realized who he was.**

**-There are MAJOR trust issues all over the place, especially with Shinji and Shunsui.**

**-This is only a piece of a much larger 'verse that will show up at some point.**

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**Please Review & let me know what you think!**


	23. Choice

**23. Choice**

It was a glorious day for the hollows of Los Noches. Their leader, the great and powerful Aizen-sama, had ascended to the throne of heaven and become the Spirit King. With his newfound power, the ex-shinigami subjugated his former comrades from the Gotei 13 and brought the most powerful to Hueco Mundo as captives and slaves. The only exception was their leader, Captain Commander Yamamoto, who Aizen made a (rather gory) example of, in front of the whole of Los Noches and Seireitei.

After the captains were restrained and gathered in the throne room, Aizen called in the most powerful of his followers, the espada, to interact with them. The shinigami were quickly and roughly introduced to their new positions in life. It was only after the espada had had their fun that Aizen called them away, retaining only the primera (one of few hollows that had not participated in the shinigamis' humiliation) and Gin to help him decide their fates.

* * *

Starrk met his master's tolerantly amused gaze for a long moment, searching for an explanation, then shrugged and turned towards the cluster of captive shinigami. It wasn't his place to question the whys and wherefores of Aizen's decisions. If the new Spirit King wanted him to choose the prisoners' caretakers, then that's what he'd do. And if doing so satisfied his responsibilities for the day, then that was even better.

The primera circled the former captains at a leisurely pace, watching as they pulled back, their expressions ranging from anger and defiance to disbelief and maybe a little fear. Most of them attempted to match his gaze, turning with his slow pace to keep him in view, but instead bumped into their neighbors and stumbled in the tight quarters. One of them even fell; a tiny white haired shinigami with angry eyes. They had to despise this; being helpless in the grasp of what they considered a madman and his pet monster.

Starrk had almost completed an entire circuit, taking measure of the captives and the way they acted, when he noticed a particularly strange looking (creepy) individual staring at him with fascination rather than hatred. He'd never seen a shinigami like that; what was with the makeup? And the… blue head-wreathe-thing? Somewhat confused, he stopped to meet the man's (?) gaze.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Arrancar…" The shinigami uttered with unholy fascination. "I wonder what your innards look like…it would be a short procedure to begin a vivisection…"

Starrk quickly backpedaled, disturbed. Then he shook his head and made his first choice.

"This one's Szayel's."

As he moved on, beginning his second circle at a slower pace, he made a point of stopping to meet the eyes of each prisoner. A few were obvious: the one with the white hairpiece and emotionless gaze went to Ulquiorra and the one-eyed giant with the bloodthirsty reiatsu was destined for Nnoitra. As he uttered each espada's name, the shinigami were pulled out of the group and dragged away to be interred in their new homes by the guards. The remaining men and women watched him cautiously as he meandered around, occasionally drawing closer to get a better look and then pulling back to continue.

On his third circuit, he tagged the white-haired child shinigami for Harribel and the small, angry female for Grimmjow. Those two were a bit of a stretch, but she seemed catty (bitchy) enough to deal with the sexta's temper tantrums while the brat had the same aura of seriousness that Harribel bore like a shroud. The giant fox-man took a while; Starrk met his golden eyes for a good five minutes before deciding that Zommari would be the best arrancar for watching over him. Maybe their strict dedication to absolutely opposite causes would help them bond.

The last few were the most interesting. The white haired shinigami, his pink-clad counterpart, and their long-haired female companion watched his circling calmly. The white-haired one was angry, obviously, but not foolish enough to attack or mouth-off. Both the dark-haired man and the woman were completely expressionless.

Starrk studied all three of them for a while, circling at least fifteen times. They didn't turn with him; in fact, they instinctively arranged themselves back to back so that one could always see him, but none of them were forced to move.

"Enough." The primera stopped, startled, and turned towards his master. "Make your choice, Starrk-san. I am…eager to return to my duties."

_Ah, the visored. Of course he's in a hurry. He's probably more interested in what Szayel's doing to them than in any of this._

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

He turned back towards the group, thinking.

"I guess Aaroniero..."

"Nah, Starrky-san." The primera looked at Gin in surprise. "Him and Yammy aren't really the type, y'know?"

When Aizen nodded in acceptance, Starrk frowned. He could see where this was going, and he didn't like it.

"Well, Barragan's got a lot of fraccion. He could probably handle all-."

Gin sniggered. "Nice try, Starrk-bo."

"Indeed." Aizen steepled his fingers, eyeing Starrk with mild amusement. "As you do not seem eager to claim a charge, I will assign the final three."

"Aizen-sama…"

"Do you have a problem with that, Starrk-san?"

His tone was pleasant, but his eyes sure weren't. Starrk swallowed his protests and nonchalantly rocked back on his heels.

"Of course not."

Aizen nodded pleasantly. "Unohana-san will be placed under Barragan-san's guardianship while Kyoraku-san will be under yours."

Starrk didn't watch as the two shinigami were led away. He'd be reunited with Kyoraku-san (which one was that?) after the prisoner had been fitted with more restraints and stripped of all personal possessions and shinigami paraphernalia. Hopefully he'd have enough reiatsu left to protect himself from the effects of Starrk's power.

"Looks like ya got a buddy now, Starrky-san. Try not to kill this one, ne?" Gin smirked nastily.

Starrk felt the glare of the only remaining shinigami, which had until now been focused on Aizen, zero in on his back. He easily ignored it.

"I understand, Aizen-sama."

"Good. Kyoraku-san is now your responsibility. Return to your quarters and prepare for his arrival."

Starrk nodded amiably and sauntered out of the room, passing the white-haired shinigami (guess Kyoraku was the dark-haired one in pink) on his way out. As he began to close the door behind him, he heard Aizen begin to speak.

"Ukitake-san, it would seem that you are in possession of information that I desire."

Starrk firmly shut the door, vowing to forget what he'd heard.

Whatever was going to happen to the shinigami was none of his business.

* * *

**First update of 2013! Yay!  
**

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**I actually like this one-shot, even though it's pretty pointless.  
**

**I just wanted to have Starrk pairing up the shinigami and espada, for some reason. Not really sure why…maybe I wanted to match up their personality types? All I can figure is that Starrk's character is very easy-going and versatile, so I can use him to explore strange situations in the Bleach universe, even if he normally wouldn't be involved. I've also got a ficlet on why, exactly, all of their seating arrangements are seemingly random during the espada meetings. (But that doesn't have much to do with Starrk, so it won't be included in this collection. It probably won't be posted at all, because I can't figure out why anyone would want to read it.)**

**Hm...also, this was inspired by many other stories on ffnet and ao3, what with the 'Aizen won the war' theme, but the only one I can remember is 'A New Beginning' by H . P . Dagon (because it's one of few with Starrk in it). There were lots of others but...well, use the search engine with 'Aizen won the war' or 'shinigami lost' and you'll find some.  
**

**I hope you like it!  
**

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**Please review!  
**


	24. Conversation

**24. Conversation**

_In which Ichigo and Starrk discuss the paradoxical existence of a giant palace (plus amenities) in the middle of a featureless desert._

* * *

"Hey Starrk?"

"Ngh. What?"

"How did all of…_this_…get here?"

"The pillows?"

"Well, yes. But everything else too. I mean, how did Aizen even build Los Noches? Did he order the hollows to do it? Where did the building materials come from?"

_*sigh* "_You woke me up…for this?"

"I'm just curious."

"You ask a lot of questions, kid."

"Hmph. Fine, whatever. It's not like it matters."

_*shrug*_ "No one knows."

"What…seriously?"

"It was already here when I came. The only one around when Aizen built it was Barragan and he never talked about it."

"So the hollows didn't build it, then."

"No."

"How do you think it happened?"

"Does it matter?"

"Renji thinks there's some sort of inter-dimensional building scam going on, with Aizen stealing all of this stuff from Seireitei or the Living World."

"…"

"Rukia thinks he might have started a business or a black market before he became a shinigami and raised enough money to buy the materials."

"The shinigami wouldn't notice if hundreds of thousands of tons of building materials suddenly vanished?"

"Erm...maybe?"

"What do you think?"

"The hollows building it was my idea."

"Hm." _*yawn* _"If you ask me, he probably used the hogyoku."

"…It can DO that?"

"I don't know, but I don't see why not."

"That sounds like something Aizen would do."

"Mhm."

"What about the other stuff? Everything inside? I doubt he used it on every little thing."

"My pillows?"

"Among other things."

"I stole them."

"You…what?"

_*shrug*_ "I stole them. From the human world."

"You-You can't DO that!"

"Why not?"

"Wha...! Because it's WRONG?"

"I'm an evil, amoral monster (according to the shinigami). Therefore, I can do whatever I want."

"It doesn't work like that."

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't! You need to buy them!"

"I'm a hollow. Where would I get money?"

"…a job?" _*Long, incredulous pause* _"Okay, maybe not. But still…!"

"Ichigo, I took the pillows over a decade ago and I'm pretty sure no one even noticed. You can complain all you want, but I really don't care."

"That's not- Where did you even find this many?"

"There was some sort of recall at a furniture store. I took them from the storage warehouse."

"Oh."

_*Yawn*_ "Is that it?"

"I guess. So Aizen created Los Noches and you guys stole everything inside?"

"Pretty much."

"…Huh…"

"…I'm going back to sleep."

_*Long pause.*_

"…Starrk?"

"…Zzzzz…"

"Lazy bastard…"

* * *

**How DID Aizen build Los Noches? **

**The popularity of '****Howling at the Moon'**** seems to be waning. That makes me sad, so I decided to write something cracky to cheer myself up. It's not very good, but that wasn't the point.**

**There are a few headcanon issues like this that are more fun to write out in short conversations between characters instead of bullet points. Of course, this is supposing Starrk knows pretty much everything about Los Noches/Hueco Mundo/hollows/arrancar and Ichigo, for whatever reason, is asking him about it. I'm not even going to try explaining that. XD**

**I've got other headcanon points like this (such as: is Zommari a pumpkin or a sea urchin? Why MEXICO? Why are there so few vasto lordes?), but I'm not planning to put them online because I don't see the point (kind of like that continuation of Chapter 16 (Awakening) that never got online because very few people wanted to see it).**

**Hm…what else?**

**Oh, yeah. I'm kinda bummed right now because one of my favorite ff7 fanfic authors deleted all of her works and retired from writing. I can understand why (I mean, who hasn't thought about it at least once?) but she had awesome stories, some of which I never got around to reading. :( Oh well…it happens, I guess. I hope she's happy with her new direction.**

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**Please Review and let me know what you think!**

** & Thanks to the two people who reviewed last chapter! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. :)**


	25. Reviewer Prompt 3 (part 1)

**25. Reviewer Prompt #3 (Part 1)**

Ichigo was having another bad day. (He'd been having a lot of those since becoming a substitute shinigami.)

The original 'Rescue Orihime' plan required him to sneak into Hueco Mundo through Urahara's garganta, grab Orihime, then sneak out again before anyone noticed him. If someone got in his way, he'd defeat them quickly and move on. When Ishida and Chad decided to come, they were welcome (but supposedly unnecessary) backup. Unfortunately, he forgot to take 'Aizen the Omnipotent' into account and the humans were detected the second they stepped out of the portal.

After that, things became more difficult but not impossible. Rukia and Renji showed up, they all met Nel and her 'Desert Bros', and the new multi-species group left for Los Noches (which was much farther away than expected). Upon arrival, they found themselves at a five-way fork and decided to split up to search faster.

That's when everything went to hell.

Looking back, he can't for the life of him remember what he was thinking. How was _splitting their strength _going to help, in the home of hundreds of powerful arrancar? Sure, there was something to be said for scouting ahead and gathering intel, but not when there was most likely an espada waiting at the end of every trail!

Now, here he was, all alone and already tired from fighting lesser arrancar, facing a fully rested and restored Grimmjow.

And _maybe _he shouldn't have been thinking about all of that in the middle of a battle because Grimmjow, in full resurreccion_, _managed to take advantage of his distraction to pull back out of reach and shoot off a powerful Gran Rey Cero in Ichigo's direction. Taken by surprise, Ichigo barely managed to dodge the blast and found himself losing concentration and allowing his mask to dissolve. Disoriented and barely able to stay aloft, he was unable to parry when Grimmjow came in for a finishing blow. The feline slipped under his guard and landed a vicious punch to his stomach. It was so hard that the visored flew backwards, impacting a building some hundred yards behind him with enough force to break through the roof and knock him unconscious.

* * *

Grimmjow was having a good day. The first in a while, actually.

It hadn't started that well, what with that kiss-ass Ulquiorra strutting around. Then fuckin' Aizen-sama decided to make an example out of Grimmjow during the espada meeting when all the sexta had wanted to do was kill Kurosaki…but then he'd actually _found _the brat.

And victory was _oh-so-sweet._

Even with his hollow mask and bankai, the human twerp hadn't stood a chance against _Pantera. _It took more effort than he liked to admit, and it had been one of the best fights he'd ever had, but Grimmjow eventually emerged the uncontested winner.

_And now, Kurosaki, it's time to die._

He gave a fanged grin, watching the defeated human sail through the air from his punch and preparing a cero to deal the death blow.

But his smile sank into an annoyed grimace and the cero flickered out when Ichigo landed.

_Or not._

Of all the rotten luck…

But not even Grimmjow was bull-headed enough to push his luck _that _far. Besides, the important thing was that he'd won. What did it matter if he didn't have Kurosaki's corpse cooling at his feet, the human's lifeblood dripping from his claws? It was bad form to kill an unconscious opponent, anyway.

With an irritated, but still victorious, grumble, the sexta dropped out of resurreccion and vanished across the desert in a burst of sonido.

* * *

Starrk eyed his new 'skylight' with patience born of resignation. He'd known about Grimmjow's fight, of course; the entire population of Los Noches felt the release of _Pantera_; but he hadn't intended to get involved or take notice. Not until a rather large… object… came crashing through the roof and woke him up.

At least the feline hadn't pushed his luck and tried to enter Starrk's tower. Even now, the primera could feel the other arrancar's reiatsu signature dwindling in the distance, likely trying to avoid the consequences of his actions. Luckily for the sexta, Starrk wasn't quite annoyed enough to pursue him. Not to mention, he had another focus for his attention.

With a quiet sigh, he drew his gaze down from the hole in his roof to scrutinize the unconscious visored lying at his feet. The boy was in rough shape, having reverted to his shinigami form at some point during his flight. He was obviously one of the intruders that Aizen-sama warned them about; Starrk hadn't caught a name. Hypothetically, he was supposed to fight if any of them made their way into his quarters, but this one hadn't so much 'entered' as 'been forcibly thrown into' and he didn't look in any condition to fight.

Starrk nudged the boy lightly with the toe of his shoe.

"Hey, kid."

No reaction; he pushed a little harder.

"Hey. We're supposed to be fighting."

The next nudge garnered a slight wince (he must have hit a bruise) but nothing remotely threatening.

Starrk stepped back with a pensive frown. He couldn't leave the kid unattended, considering Aizen-sama's orders, not to mention he didn't want the visored destroying his home if he woke up. But the intruder was in no condition to fight and Starrk had no intention of killing an unconscious foe (and possibly not a conscious one, either).

With a sigh of irritation, he leaned down and grabbed Ichigo by the collar of his shihakusho, lifting him easily with one hand and tossing the limp body over his shoulder into a fireman's carry. He grabbed the giant cleaver-like zanpakuto with his free hand and turned back towards his bedroom. It didn't look like the human was going to be waking up any time soon, and Starrk had plenty of naps to catch up on.

* * *

**Another reviewer prompt filled! Well, partially. This 'one-shot' stretched so long that I split it in half; this is part 1, part 2 will be posted in the next few days.**

**The original prompt (by Love Psycho) was **"Ichigo was supposed to be saving Orihime, except somehow he ended up in bed with a rather lazy and probably powerful Espada. Now, he attempts to sneak away to get back to his mission. Starrk doesn't approve."** (I paraphrased that a little bit, to make it shorter.)** **As you can see, this chapter was basically the set up; Starrk and Ichigo will interact next chapter. I actually like the result, although I'm not sure it was what the prompter was looking for.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, Love Psycho!**

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_**Everyone, thanks so much for your reviews last chapter! Five reviews at one time is a record , and it was amazing to hear from all of you. :) I love to hear from people who read my stories, and I've responded to everyone (that I could)!**_

**(I should note that I can't respond to unsigned reviews, especially if you don't give me any way to contact you. Sorry (JadeDragon and Guest)! if you'd like a personalized response, let me know.)**

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**Please review & let me know what you think!  
**


	26. Reviewer Prompt 3 (part 2)

**26. Reviewer Prompt #3 (Part 2)**

Ichigo woke up feeling surprisingly comfortable, considering the circumstances. He could tell that it was cool, dark, and quiet beyond his closed eyelids and the surface he was laying on was soft and accommodating. For a moment, he thought that he was back home and that all of it; Hueco Mundo, Los Noches, Aizen, and Grimmjow; was just a dream.

However, it was never _that _quiet at home. His dad had some sort of sixth sense: an 'Ichigo is waking up, I need to kick him in the face!' radar. It had been _years _since he'd woken up peacefully. But there was no sign of Isshin here; no sign of _anyone_…except…

He stiffened, suddenly wide awake. Even his abysmal reiatsu sensing skills could feel the…_presence…_nearby. It was so powerful that eddies and currents of energy filled the air around him. While most shinigami simply projected their reiatsu as an aura or a small cloud, this was an ocean. Ichigo couldn't even sense the boundaries.

Maybe…it was a captain? It was possible some of them came to help. Kenpachi, at least, had seemed eager to come to Hueco Mundo; although this reiatsu felt far too tranquil and nonviolent to belong to the captain of the 11th division. Shinigami interference could explain why Ichigo survived being unconscious on the open sands of Los Noches and at Grimmjow's mercy.

Forcing himself to stay calm, Ichigo opened his eyes, hoping beyond hope that he'd find himself looking into the eyes of Unohana-taicho or, better yet, Orihime.

No such luck.

At first glance, he seemed to be alone in a big, dark room, lying on top of a soft futon. When he climbed to his feet, trying to stay as quiet as possible (just in case), he discovered that the 'futon' was actually a giant pile of pillows. That was…odd.

He paused for a moment, trying to get his bearings and figure out where he was and how much time had passed since he'd been knocked unconscious. It couldn't have been _that _long, right? And where was Grimmjow? He wouldn't leave Ichigo behind, not while he was still alive and in one piece. Maybe he was in the sexta's quarters? At that thought, his hand strayed to_ Zangetsu_'s hilt, looking for reassurance that he wasn't helpless in enemy territory.

His hand came away empty. _Zangetsu_ was gone.

_Shit._

The ensuing frantic search did not last long. He quickly found the sword only a few feet from where he'd woken up, but immediately discovered a far more serious problem; namely, the prone form of a sleeping arrancar lying on top of Ichigo's zanpakuto

It wasn't Grimmjow. In fact, it was someone he didn't even recognize. Specific features were indistinguishable in the darkness, but he could tell that the figure was a tall man with dark hair…and that he was lying right on top of the lower end of _Zangetsu_, on the flat of the blade with the hilt completely hidden beneath his body.

Ichigo just stood and stared, unable to process the situation or how it had come to be. This new arrancar must be the source of that strong reiatsu signature, and as such an espada, but he didn't look very threatening. Hell, Ichigo had been sleeping in the other man's pillow-bed, within touching distance, for who knew how long and…

…and…

How the hell had he gotten into the bed in the first place?

Ichigo shook his head irritably, shaking the bemusement and worry away. It was what it was, and now he had to deal with it. He really had to stop getting sidetracked by wondering 'how'; it only ever seemed to get him into trouble (such as THIS mess). Besides, introspection wasn't really his thing; he was much better at blasting through walls and hacking things apart. Not talents that would be useful in this situation, regrettably.

It would probably be best to leave before the arrancar woke up, he decided.

As stealthily as possible, Ichigo slunk forward until he could grasp the point of his zanpakuto and tried to slide it free. Unfortunately, lightly tugging on the tip didn't make a difference. He couldn't pull harder without slicing up his hands, so he inched closer to reach more of the blade. It didn't seem to matter; _Zangetsu_ was too sharp for him to get a good grip. In seemingly no time at all, he was hunched over on his knees, right next to the unknown hollow, trying to edge the sword out.

"What're you doin'?"

The unexpected voice startled Ichigo so hard that he fell over, landing on his rear in the pile of cushions mere inches from the espada... who was now observing Ichigo with mild interest, pale eyes gleaming in the scant light like those of a wild animal. Ichigo flushed bright red in embarrassment.

"…Um…"

He wasn't attacking; that was good, right? Ichigo flailed his way out of the pillows and got back up, shooting the man a warning glare. The hollow simply blinked back, unimpressed.

"…You're lying on my zanpakuto."

"Yep."

No speeches or sneers, just simple acknowledgement. That was unexpected. And confusing. What was he supposed to do with a civil arrancar?

"Could you…give it back? I need it."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Because then I'll be obligated to fight you." The older man yawned widely, settling back more comfortably on top of the sword. It was a miracle he didn't cut himself.

"You don't want to fight?"

"No."

"Why not? You're a hollow."

"So?."

Ichigo honestly had no response for that. Could this guy truly not want to attack him? But that was good; he didn't want to fight either.

"Well, we don't have to fight. If you just give me my sword then I'll leave and you can get back to…sleeping."

Starrk shot him an unimpressed look.

"Kid, do you really think Aizen-sama would be down with me just letting you stroll out of here?"

"Well, no, but if you don't want to fight…"

"Mhm. You'll notice we aren't fighting now."

"But…what…"

"Make yourself comfortable. You're not going anywhere."

"You can't keep me here! I need to find Orihime!"

"Oh? Without your zanpakuto?"

"Give it back!"

Under Ichigo's quickly mounting ire, the primera yawned widely and closed his eyes. "No."

The peaceful current of Starrk's massive reiatsu signature suddenly solidified into an impenetrable wave, forcing his 'guest' back down on the cushions. It was heavy, stifling, and so strong as to seem like a solid wall pinning him down. After a moment, the hollow let up a bit and Ichigo tried to jump up and attack him.

Up came the reiatsu, down went Ichigo.

And again.

Again.

After about fifteen minutes of Ichigo trying to attack and getting forced back, the arrancar was still unmoved and the visored was getting tired. Finally, he simply flopped down next Starrk and glared at him.

"Give me back my sword."

"No. Go to sleep."

"No! My friends…"

"…Are not the ones in trouble at the moment, are they?"

"I can take care of myself!"

"I see that."

"…"

"Just relax, kid. Get some rest; you'll definitely need it."

"I'm **going** to get my sword back."

"Hn. Good luck."

With a final grumble, Ichigo settled back to plot some more. Straight out attacking wasn't doing anything so…maybe he should wait until the espada fell asleep and then try to sneak _Zangetsu_ out? He didn't feel threatened by the thought of staying with Starrk; somehow, despite his power and allegiance, the hollow's manner was so inoffensive that it was difficult to consider him dangerous.

Yes, Ichigo would wait until his captor (?) was asleep and then he'd sneak the sword out and go save his friends.

Unfortunately for Ichigo, he didn't know that Starrk was a master at the art of sleeping. The human boy, tired from running, fighting, and worrying, drifted off long before his opponent.

He likely would have stayed that way as well, if Nel hadn't come searching for him a couple hours later.

* * *

**And here's the second and final part of Love Psycho's prompt response! If you'd like to see original prompt, just look at the notes in the previous chapter, or in the reviews. I hope you enjoyed it, Love Psycho!**

**(I made a LOT of mistakes while writing this chapter and had to go back during editing to make sense of a giant block of text that was mostly pronouns: 'he said it and then he responded so he laid down and tried to get it…' As a result, the flow is a bit choppy but I think I got the point across.)**

**To everyone who reviewed last chapter (Jade Dragon, wolfeclipse25, and Love Psycho), thank you so much for your input!**

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**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	27. Trap

**27. Trap  
**

Just a little closer…

The pleasant smile on Shunsui's face never wavered as he flashed around the battlefield, obfuscating his actual intentions with his usual flamboyance. He was stabbing, dodging, and parrying, apparently aimlessly but every gesture had a purpose. If this worked, power levels and abilities would be irrelevant; this fight would be over. Period.

However, it was proving difficult to maneuver his opponent into position; Starrk was extremely perceptive and even a slight eye-twitch or muscle spasm would tip him off and send him sonido-ing in the opposite direction from where Shunsui needed him to go. Still, observation and intelligence could only go so far and there was no way the other man could have prior knowledge about the traps set in the city below. To him, the empty space was just that: empty. It was identical to every other patch of air that he might choose to occupy. All Shunsui had to do was chase the arrancar into position, or make that _one _location the best place for the espada to attack from, for even a millisecond…and…

…_There!_

* * *

The second Starrk felt the surge of foreign reiatsu, he attempted to sonido away, but it was already too late. A transparent yellow wall slammed down around him, sealing him into a tiny circular space barely large enough to turn around in. Caught by surprise, his attempted sonido rammed him squarely into the kido barrier. It had no give, reacting like solid steel to his collision.

Ow.

Forced back, Starrk tried to move backwards, or sideways, but all avenues of escape were cut off. The spaces above and below were open, but the smooth wall extended as far up and down as he could sense. His range of movement was almost nil, with the diameter of the prison only a couple of inches wider than his shoulders. He couldn't bring his arms up or bend them too far, and even if he pressed as far back as possible, twisting his shoulders and elbows against his body, his guns remained pointed firmly downwards. He could drift up or down and twist on his vertical axis, but that was it.

Finally, his gaze returned to the shinigami he'd been fighting, who was now smiling indulgently at the primera's struggles, swords held loosely at his sides. Noticing his attention, Shunsui tipped his hat back and chuckled out loud, drifting closer.

"Looks like you won't get to see my bankai after all, Espada-san."

Starrk frowned deeply in annoyance, but Lilynette jumped in before he could respond.

"You CHEATED! Bastard! Let us out! We'll KILL you!"

The captain laughed outright at that and sheathed his swords.

"I don't think so, Arrancar-chan."

"CHAN?! You're pissing me off! C'mon Starrk, let's cero our way out of here and kill 'im. NOW!"

The primera grumbled in aggravation, and then shrugged.

"Alright. I didn't want to do this but…" He shifted irritably in what little space he had. "I don't seem to have many options left."

"By all means." Shunsui smiled politely and waved one hand in a 'go ahead' gesture. The other hand strayed to the hilt of his zanpakuto, but he didn't draw it. Starrk was more powerful than expected, but in this case that wouldn't make a difference. In fact, since the cage had been designed with such attacks in mind, it should make the trap more effective.

Starrk allowed his guns to dematerialize, relegating Lilynette's voice to the back of his mind. He still couldn't raise his arms but his hands were able to press against the interior of the container below waist level. It would be awkward, but he could fire a cero from that position. Granted, he could also fire it from anywhere else he chose (he was partial to using his mask) but skin contact would allow him to sense how the kido was responding to his attack. Something about the captain's expression was telling him to take this very cautiously

Blue energy slowly condensed at his palms, lighting up the inside of the tube with an eerie glow. He could feel the containing spell wavering under his building spiritual pressure; when he actually fired the fully formed cero, it would easily tear through and set him free. But…something wasn't right. The primera's frown quickly turned into a scowl as the glow around him increased. Before the cero was even half-formed, he let the energy dissipate and returned his hands to his sides. He turned an un-amused glower on the captain outside.

"Something wrong, Espada-san?"

"You are a very sneaky person."

Shunsui threw back his head and laughed. "Well, thank you, I think. But I cannot take all the credit. Tell me, why didn't you fire the cero?"

"You already know that, Taicho-san."

"Perhaps. Tell me anyway?"

The arrancar rolled his eyes and slouched back against the farthest side of the container before responding in an unenthusiastic, almost bored tone.

"The walls are enhanced to contain reiatsu. If I fired a cero, it would destroy the cage but the blowback energy from the attack itself would probably kill me. In such a small space, I would have no room to dodge and would be forced to take the full brunt of the attack at close quarters."

"You could use a less powerful cero."

"A cero powerful enough to crack the kido would be lethal to anyone inside at the time."

"Hm. Well then." Shunsui rocked back on his heels, meeting the hollow's glare with a satisfied smile. "I suppose that means I've won?"

Starrk grunted irritably, looking away towards Harribel's fight. He was not in the least surprised to find her in an identical situation, arctic glare offset by frantic struggles to maneuver _Tiburon_ in such a confined space.

Suddenly, the tube _shook _all around him, jarring him away from the wall and snapping his attention back to the hat-wearing captain…who was considerably closer and had one hand extended, curled into a fist.

"…Did you just _knock_ on it?"

"Ah, apologies. Don't tap on the glass, hm?"

Not understanding the reference, but doubting it was a compliment, the primera simply scowled and attempted to cross his arms. It didn't work (which did nothing for his mood) so he simply slouched again and yawned.

"Did you want something, Taicho-san?"

"No, no." The amusement was still thick in the shinigami's voice. "Just testing for myself. It seems sturdy enough."

"..."

"You look tired Espada-san. Why don't you take a break? Take a nap."

"I would love to." Starrk deadpanned. "Unfortunately, I'm a little tied up at the moment. Besides, YOU are the one that wanted to fight, not me."

Shunsui's smile widened. "Well, yes. But now that I've won, I find I don't have such a problem with that anymore. Provided, of course, that you do not interfere in any more fights."

Starrk scowled and slouched harder. "Not much choice."

"Good." The shinigami nodded in satisfaction and kicked off. He drifted back towards the head-captain where he was facing Aizen, but shouted back over his shoulder. "Take a nap, Espada-san. This is not your fight any longer."

Starrk sighed deeply and watched him go. It was a sound suggestion and one he would normally agree with. As it was, he slowly drifted downwards, intent on finding the bottom of his cage and exploring for any weaknesses that could let him out. It probably wouldn't matter (it looked flawless) but there was always a chance.

Distantly, he heard Harribel's impassioned yells from within her own prison, and shook his head in sorrow at Aizen's disinterested response.

Maybe he could at least escape in time to flee to Hueco Mundo before the shinigami came to deal with him.

* * *

**:: This Chapter was edited 1/21/2013::**

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**Happy Birthday, Starrk and Lilynette!**

**(According to the character book, January 19th is their birthday. I'm not sure what that means exactly: is an arrancar's birthday the day they were born as a human, the day they became a hollow, the day of their last evolution, or what?)**

**-I did tell you guys I would be returning to this fight at some point, so…here it is! There will be an alternate ending (also in honor of their birthday) up soon. That one is considerably more cracky. It was originally supposed to be a short omake in this chapter, but Jushiro and Shunsui wouldn't stop talking, then Lilynette jumped in, and before I knew it, it was long enough to be a new chapter.  
**

**-Multi-chapter story poll: I have added a poll to my profile along with several story descriptions so that you can vote on what full-length story you think I should work on next. I've had several requests for a multi-chapter story and these are the ideas I've come up with so far (some of them have installments in this fic, others are completely new). Most of them have Starrk in them, but some are more focused on Ichigo, Aizen, or just the general Bleach verse.**

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**To everyone who reviewed last chapter (Guest, Jade Dragon, Love Psycho, wolfeclipse25, and Kyrial Halcoryn), thank you so much for your input! Five reviewers at once is the new record for this story!**

* * *

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	28. Trap (Alternate Ending)

**28. Trap (Alternate Ending)**

_The second Starrk felt the surge of foreign reiatsu, he attempted to sonido away, but it was already too late._

He was caught in a wave of kido, a beam of light and energy that…wasn't actually hurting him? In fact, it was _changing _something. It felt a bit like evolving, only far less intense; this wasn't changing the state of his soul, but it was definitely doing something to his physical form.

As suddenly as it appeared, the beam vanished and Starrk staggered in midair, losing altitude to confusion and disorientation. He had no idea what changed, but he could feel Lilynette's sudden shock from where she was keeping an eye on the white haired captain. Apparently in affecting him, it had affected her to.

The sudden string of expletives was not a good sign.

"Ne, Espada-san…where are you going?"

Startled by the sudden (massive?) presence, Starrk jumped backwards…and tripped over a knee-high obstacle, falling backwards onto a surprisingly soft surface made of…giant woven straw? Each piece of straw was as wide as his arm and the platform they formed was circular but slanted downwards, coming to a low point in the very center. It looked like…like…well, it looked like the captain's hat, magnified in size and flipped over.

This…was not good. At all.

Slowly, dreading what he would see, the arrancar looked up into the giant face of his opponent. Shunsui smiled in response and tipped his hat gently, forcing Starrk to slide towards the middle. Snapping out of his stupor, the primera jumped into the air to sonido away…only to crash back down, exactly where the shinigami wanted him to be. Attempts to create a cero or bala were similarly futile.

"Sorry about that, Espada-san. It's a side effect of the kido. I'm afraid you're stuck."

_Not good._

"Shunsui! What are- *ouch!* - you doing? Did you catch the other one?"

"Let me go, you BASTARD!"

Well, you had to hand it to her; even five inches tall and being carried by the back of her shirt, Lilynette could be _loud. _Unfortunately, the decrease in size also made her _squeaky._ Starrk and Shunsui winced in tandem as Ukitake appeared, carting a very tiny, very _shrill_, prisoner. Judging by the blood spots on the shinigami's hand, he had originally tried to carry her the conventional way, only to be attacked and forced to change his grip.

"I got him." Shunsui proffered the hat to his friend, accidentally knocking Starrk off balance and onto his back in the process. Jushiro paused and looked down, scrutinizing the miniature espada with interest.

"It's odd…I wasn't expecting it to be so effective." He leaned in for a closer look. Starrk frowned and shifted away, moving to sit up and hoping the shinigami wouldn't try to touch him.

"You didn't think our esteemed colleagues in the Research Institute would come through?"

"No, no!" Jushiro laughed easily. "I just- _Ow!"_

Lilynette had somehow managed to twist around and embed her horn in the thin webbing between his thumb and forefinger. Shunsui chuckled.

"Yours is more bite than bark, eh?"

Jushiro smiled ruefully and dropped her gently into the hat next to her companion. "I'd say she's equal parts bite and bark."

Starrk 'hmphed' quietly and attempted once again to stand on the uneven straw slope. Lilynette snarled a long string of curses under her breath as she found her feet next to him, gearing up for another shouting marathon. Starrk easily caught her before she could stumble, providing support as she got her balance. Once both of them were set, he looked up to find both shinigami watching them. The pink-clad one looked amused while the white-haired one looked dangerously close to declaring them 'cute'.

"Hey! What're you lookin' at!? We could _so _take you!"

"Lilynette, _ouch_." Starrk rubbed at his ear, wincing. Enhanced hearing and high pitched voices do not mix well.

"And YOU! Why don't you cero them, huh?! We might be shrunk but I could totally-!" She yelped in surprise as, without the assistance of reiatsu, her high kick at Starrk's head caused her to overbalance and fall back down.

"They've disabled our reiatsu, somehow." Starrk offered his hand to help her stand, but she ignored him and scrambled up on her own, shooting a scorching glare at the shinigami.

Understandably, neither was in the least bit intimidated. In fact, Jushiro broke out in a broad grin and Shunsui was visibly trying not to laugh.

Starrk sighed deeply and buried his hands in his pockets, noticing for the first time that his sword was missing. He must have dropped it when the kido beam hit. Effectively helpless and very aware of that fact, the primera frowned and looked up to meet Shunsui's gaze. Sensing the change in mood, the captain tried to restrain his amusement but one glance at the overly serious look on the six-inch-tall arrancar's face just made him grin again.

Unfazed, Starrk met his look head-on.

"What now, Taicho-san?"

Shunsui chuckled genially. "You do not seem in any condition to fight, Espada-san."

"That's _your _fault, ya-."

Starrk put a hand on Lilynette's shoulder, squeezing gently but firmly in reprimand, and her statement trailed off into a dissatisfied grumble. Jushiro watched their interaction with increasingly sympathetic eyes.

"Regardless, the outcome seems to be up to you." The primera's gaze never wavered from Shunsui despite the interruption.

"We-ell…"

"Shunsui, stop teasing him." Jushiro rebuked his friend lightly, and turned to the miniature hollow. (_That _thought made swallow an undignified giggle. They were just so _cute _like this!) "You don't need to worry, Espada-san. We have no intention of harming either of you."

Starrk shot him an incredulous look. "So you're going to let us go?"

"Ah…"

"Nope. Sorry." Shunsui shrugged, a bit too blasé to be sympathetic. "You're stuck with us for now." He handed the hat to Ukitake (knocking the captives down again in the process) and shrugged off his kimono, shaking it out until it hung straight. The other three watched him with confusion until, with a final flourish, he tossed it over the hat, sealing it off and fully confining the hollows.

Lilynette gave a sharp yelp of surprise as the thick cloth forced her to her hands and knees, and then started swearing and struggling against it. Starrk scowled but lied down with easy grace and dignity. There was a shallow cone of space for them to move around in, deep enough for him to kneel at the center or lie down on the slanting sides.

If the shinigami were done talking, then he would just have to wait until the kido wore off, or the soul reapers decided on a course of action.

Until then, a nap sounded like a good idea.

* * *

The primera had a good point, Shunsui thought. Aizen was still standing (full size) and there was no way Shunsui and Jushiro would be able to fight if they were holding their small captives. The kido had been directed at all hybrids in the vicinity and the other arrancar were similarly affected…along with Tousen. Huh.

The skeleton hollow appeared to be dead and the female hollow was missing (Hitsugaya and several lieutenants were at street level looking for her). Tousen was being held by Gin, who had an unnervingly wide smile on his face. The (now tiny) former captain of the ninth did not look happy with the arrangement.

The only two enemies still capable of fighting were Gin and Aizen.

This battle was only just getting started.

* * *

**Yeah…um…this ****_happens _****sometimes when I free-write. I blame the 'Borrowers' novels that I read as a kid. And I warned you it would be crack! Sorry Starrk; for now, you're six inches tall. (Although, considering how Lilynette wakes him up, I suppose he doesn't have much dignity left to lose. And hey! Now he can use a pillow as a bed!) Also, I'll leave it to your imagination whether the visored were affected or not.**

**I ****_meant_**** to post this chapter on Sunday morning, in order to get two chapters up for Jan. 19, but a family emergency in RL got in the way. It's resolved now (mostly). I hope you enjoy this chapter regardless of its tardiness!**

**The poll… has not gotten much attention. If you guys want any say in what I write next, please express your opinion. Thanks to the two of you that have voted, though!**

**To everyone who reviewed last chapter (Love Psycho, Jade Dragon, Lman3), thank you so much for your input and support!**

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**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	29. Life

**29. Life**

Starrk was annoyed. He hadn't protested at the time of the order, but he truly did regret bringing Orihime back against her will. His guilt had mounted when he observed her reaction to the abduction; even though she was terrified of him, she maintained a brave face and managed to only tremble a little while he was bringing her back to her room. However, once she realized she was back in the prison she had just barely escaped, her shoulders slumped and began to shake. He apologized once more and left her to her own devices, feeling that she would welcome privacy if she was about to break down.

The whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth and a scowl on his face. Worse, it gave him insomnia and drove him to wander aimlessly through the halls of Los Noches.

Eventually, he found himself drifting into the Octava's domain. Scorch marks and rubble marred the usually clean white corridors, and he couldn't help but wonder what opponent the lesser espada had faced. Progressing further, he found that all of the traps were sprung or deactivated, and the scent of shinigami was thick in the air. It seemed Szayel had lost.

Still, Starrk pressed onwards, confident he could overcome any obstacles in his way and curious about a strange, human-like scent trail mingled with those of the shinigami. It wasn't like he had anything else to do; at least, not until Aizen summoned him for departure.

The trail led him to Szayel's primary laboratory. After a moment's consideration (there was no scent trail _leaving _the lab), he casually pushed the door open and walked in. Immediately, he froze and screwed his nose up in disgust as the strong scent of blood assaulted his sensitive nose, attuned as it was for tracking. He snuffed quietly, dialing back his sense-attention, before looking up and discovering the source of the problem.

On the main laboratory table lay an unconscious human boy, the source of the original strange smell. He was tall and thin, with bluish-black hair and sharp features. His clothes might once have been white, but were now stained deep red with blood.

In fact, there was a _lot _of blood. Starrk moved forward to investigate, taking note of the table, now slick and stained the same color as the boy's clothes, and the inches-deep puddle spreading on the floor from where steady streams and drips of red were falling.

Huh. He didn't know humans had that much blood, and was rather surprised the kid could survive without it.

As he came to a halt at the head of the table, he realized something must have gone very wrong with the human, more so than he'd first realized. The blood was not from battle wounds, or healing attempts as Starrk first surmised. The boy's sleeves had been ripped off, from wrist to shoulder, and deep cuts inflicted to the arteries in his arms and wrists. Bindings on his wrists, ankles, and neck forced him to stay in the position of one of Szayels dissection projects and kept him from caring for the injuries or otherwise trying to stem the flow of blood.

He was still alive; the blood was still flowing, after all; but wouldn't be for much longer.

"Hey, Starrk! I've been looking- Whoa!"

Lilynette skidded into the room behind him, coming up short when she saw the human.

"Who's that?"

"I don't know."

"Is he one of Szayel's experiments?" she crept forward cautiously, eyeing the human with confusion equal to Starrk's.

Starrk frowned deeply. This situation had started with idle curiosity, but was quickly becoming something else. He didn't want _anything _to do with the humans, especially after interacting with Orihime, but this one seemed to have fallen into his lap.

"…No."

"You sure? I mean, this is his lab…"

She leaned over and stared in fascination at the boy's dangerously pale face. Starrk sighed, looking away and scratching at his chin in thought.

"I doubt Octava would allow for such a mess in his laboratory. You know what he's like…"

"Pfft. Yeah. 'Oh no! I've gotten blood on my sleeve, I need to go change!'"

Starrk's scowl lightened slightly at her comedic imitation of Szayel and he nodded.

"Aizen, then?"

"I doubt it. Aizen would never leave an experiment unattended, and I think he'd be cleaner about it than…_this_."

A swept arm indicated the mess of blood and torn fabric.

"Huh. Then who?"

"…The only other scent I can find is that of a shinigami."

She stared up at him with her visible eye wide in disgust. "You mean one of his _allies _did this? That's sick!"

"Mhm."

They both fell silent, leaving the only sound in the lab as the drops of blood impacting the puddle on the floor. Even the human's breathing was too shallow to be heard anymore.

"So…" it was Lilynette who broke the silence. "What do we do?"

"…Well…"

"I mean, he's an enemy, right? So we should let him die?" She sounded about as eager about it as he was.

"…"

"Aizen might even punish us if we do something."

Starrk grunted noncommittally, eyes fixed on the boy's unmoving features.

"And it's probably too late, anyways."

"Probably."

Neither of them made a motion to leave.

"Starrk?" her voice was uncharacteristically quiet and confused. "We _should _let him die, right?"

The primera sighed deeply and buried his hands in his pockets. "At least one shinigami, ostensibly an ally of his, left him like this. I don't know why, but it's most likely too late for anyone to help him."

"They left him behind." Her voice was quiet with discovery.

Starrk nodded slowly. "Whoever it was, they left him to slowly bleed to death. Alone."

Her small hands locked onto his sleeve with the last word, the one condition guaranteed to resonate in their combined soul.

"We should help him."

"Lily…"

"No. We should. I mean, if the shinigami betrayed him, then maybe he'll help us, right? Aizen-sama can't get mad at us for trying to help an ally."

"It's probably already too late." Starrk frowned deeply, then reached out and touched the boy gently on the forehead. To his surprise, the human stirred slightly and bleary blue eyes slitted open, trying to focus on the espada.

"Who…?" his voice was a quiet groan. "Kuro…saki…?"

"No. Sorry."

With a shudder, the eyes fell closed again.

Starrk stared at him for a long moment, apathy and sympathy warring in his head. On the one hand, saving the human could mean trouble, with everyone. The shinigami wouldn't be happy that their victim survived, and Aizen might not like Starrk's display of individuality. If he was upset enough, the former shinigami would torture the boy to death slowly, forcing Starrk to watch. It would be a far worse fate than bleeding out.

On the other hand, here was a child, lost and alone in a world he did not belong to. He had come to save a friend, and obviously expected someone to look for him (whoever 'Kurosaki' was). He was a human who had been betrayed and left to die by a shinigami. It was unlikely he would choose to ally with Aizen, considering the circumstances of his appearance in Hueco Mundo, but possible he would break off his alliance with the shinigami if saved.

Was Starrk willing to risk Aizen's wrath, in order to help this unknown, possibly hostile, human survive? Especially if the boy might die anyway?

But…if he didn't help, the kid would definitely die here, unknown to his friends.

_Alone._

Alright, then.

"No promises, Lilynette. He'll probably die."

"Yeah, but you can _try._"

"I will."

Removing the restraints was easy; they were designed to suppress reiatsu, but not on the scale that Starrk could put it out. He simply ripped them off, using enough force and energy to disintegrate them without hurting the human (although the already damaged clothes were a little singed).

Then came the hard part: healing.

Hollows aren't made for healing; destruction is easy, killing is effortless, and fighting is second nature, but channeling the energy used for those actions into something constructive is very difficult. Even Starrk, a master at reiatsu control, typically avoided trying because if he miscalculated or exerted even the tiniest bit too much reiatsu, the healing would do far worse than fail.

It would explode.

With Lilynette as a stabilizing, supportive presence at his back, Starrk reached down to put his hands over the boy's skinny wrists. It was difficult to control the release of his reiatsu, but after a long moment, he sent out the barest trickle into the boy's injuries. When nothing exploded, he released a little bit more, directing it to the injured arteries and veins to hasten natural healing and promote blood vessel production. When it interacted with the energy he'd already expended, there was more than enough to seal the punctures.

Just as the leftover energy was about to purge itself, churning dangerously and returning to its raw form, Starrk drew it back and stepped away, easily discharging the resulting tiny cero off to the side.

"Did ya do it?" Lily peered around him curiously.

"I think so."

He reached out and ran a critical hand over the rough skin. It wasn't pretty; the monstrous gashes had left equally horrifying scars; but the bleeding had stopped. The surface was oddly warped, with fresh dark red blade scars swirled and twisted by cero burns, but it was thick, healthy skin. The injuries would not re-open unless someone took a sword to them.

"Is he still breathing?"

Lilynette scrambled to the head of the table and listened by the human's mouth before grinning and nodding.

"Ya did it, Starrk. He's alive!"

Starrk smiled slightly and stood up, flexing his hands.

"But…um…now what?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, we can't _leave _him."

Starrk grumbled quietly. She was right, of course. If they left him, two things might happen and neither were good. One, the shinigami would come back and finish what they started. Two, the kid would wake up and rejoin the other humans in killing hollows. Because Starrk had saved his life, he would now be held responsible if the boy went on to inconvenience Aizen in any way.

With a laconic shrug, he bent and hefted the human into his arms, easily managing the slight weight.

Thus burdened, he turned towards the door.

"Let's go. We don't want to be here when the shinigami return. And I could really use a nap."

As they set off, neither one noticed the security camera in the corner turn to watch them leave.

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**H'okay…**

**I have had MASSIVE writer's block recently. This concept (Mayuri betrays Uryu when he has the chance and leaves him to die slowly and painfully; Starrk is wandering around and is strongly opposed to leaving anyone to die alone) has been in the works for a while, but I only just got around to starting it. **

**I say 'starting' because it has two other parts that I'm intending to write: (1) Uryu wakes up in Starrk's care and reacts to his situation, (2) Aizen broadcasts Mayuri's actions to the rest of the rescue crew, to try to drive a wedge between Ichigo and the shinigami. Unfortunately for Uryu, I don't have a resolution planned.**

** I'll probably only upload to first one to ****Howling at the Moon**** (the second one is not Stark-centric).**

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**General announcements:**

**-I'm devoting more time and energy to plotting out new stories based on the poll results and story ideas, so updates might become less common (once a month or once every two weeks), based on my muse and plot bunnies.**

**-I'm about to upload one chapter of an Ichigo-centric story (Ichigo and Uryu travel back in time to five years before Urahara's exile and clash with the shinigami of that era), but I don't intend to take that on as an active project unless it gets really good reception. It was just another plot bunny that would not let me go.**

**-To everyone who reviewed last chapter (Jade Dragon (x2), Lman3, and KrazieKat), thank you so much for your input and support!**

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**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	30. Memory

**30. Memory**

Tier Harribel, sole female vasto lorde in Hueco Mundo, stood outside the stone spire she called home, staring out across the desert. Behind her, she could hear her girls bickering and play-fighting at the bottom of the stairs. Apacci was still learning her place in their small pack, but the three adjuchas were already forming bonds closer than family. Harribel was satisfied with her choices of fraccion and looked forward to protecting them and helping them evolve.

That wasn't what was bothering her.

What she was troubled by was far less physical and more ephemeral. She wasn't even sure if it was real, or just a figment of her imagination.

Dreams_._

Recently (perhaps it was last night, or last week; it was impossible to tell time in Hueco Mundo), she had awoken from slumber with a jumble of disjointed images and sense-memories clouding her thoughts. Never mind that she didn't remember going to sleep; some of the images were downright impossible. Blue sky and green grass, the feeling of wind on her face, smooth cloth against un-masked skin, broken buildings and shattered pavement, a shinigami dressed in white, a sword in her hand…

If she were human, she would have dismissed them as products of her imagination. However, she was a hollow, and as such did not remember the human world and had never seen buildings or pavement. Swords were as foreign to her as clothes and unmasked skin. In her entire time in Hueco Mundo, there was no frame of reference or instigating experience that she could have created such images from. Therefore, these could not have originated in her mind.

Along with the images came emotions and sensations: fierce pride, reluctant submission, grim satisfaction, trust, anger, loss, pain, betrayal…These were more familiar, but also more disturbing given the circumstances. What would she possibly be willing to submit to? Who had…would…will betray her?

The more she thought about it, the more she remembered, but she had the distinct feeling that the images she was getting were out of order and fragmented. She needed more information in order to understand what-

"Harribel?"

The female hollow jerked backwards (_who was it how was this possible she hadn't sensed anything!_), jumping away from the new presence (_within touching distance!_) and drawing the sharp edge of her right arm to bear. The casual strike that batted it away was horrifically strong, driving her arm numb from the force and sending her (_a vasto lorde!_) reeling. Not giving herself time to recover, she lunged forward, determined to drive the intruder away from her home (_if it could beat her, what would it do to the girls?!_).

To her surprise, the figure retreated in a quick burst of sonido, coming to rest far outside of striking range in the shadow of a neighboring crystal tree. For the first time, she was able to observe her attacker in full and what she saw was not reassuring.

It was a male vasto lorde, covered in some sort of shaggy brown fur that immediately put her in mind of Barragan's cape. The shadows concealed most of his face so she could not get a good look at it, but his chest was curiously mask-less with only a single line of bone teeth and a hollow hole on his sternum to indicate his nature.

All observations had to be made with her five human senses; according to her enhanced abilities and reiryoku, there was no one there. In that respect, he was absolutely invisible. Considering his obvious power, that was terrifying in and of itself.

"Harribel?"

Her eyes snapped to his face, hardening with suspicion.

"How do you know my name?"

Pale eyes shone in the shadows, catching the light of the moon and reflecting silver. At the sight, something nudged insistently at the back of her mind.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Her voice could have frozen fire.

The male hollow gave a quiet sigh and stepped out of the deeper shadows, into the full moonlight.

Harribel's eyes widened in disbelief.

He looked…_human_. The fur all over his body was not a pelt, as she'd thought; it was a _garment_. And the curious patch of skin on his chest was continued up his neck and face, revealing scruffy facial hair, angular features, and a downcast expression. In fact, the row of teeth around his neck was the only sign of a mask that she could see. There was no way he could be a hollow.

"What…"

In utter confusion, she finally met his eyes.

_Crushing spiritual pressure, mournful confusion, laziness, power, arrancar, PRIMERA…_

"…Starrk?"

His head jerked up, fire lighting in his eyes. For the first time, she felt a whisper of his reiatsu, quickly suppressed.

"You know who I am?"

He seemed so _hopeful_. She'd never heard him like this, not in the entire time she'd…she…

But she didn't know him, did she?

She frowned, slowly settling back into a defensive position.

His eyes tracked her movements, but he didn't try to come any closer.

"I remember…things. I am not sure what they are."

He frowned, shrugging the fur closer around his shoulders. "You know my name."

She blinked and cocked her head curiously. "What do _you _remember?"

A blank expression slammed down on his face, but somehow she knew it was a cover for emotional turmoil. She didn't know how because she didn't know _him_, but it was the truth. He averted his eyes after a long moment, and slumped is shoulders.

"I remember everything, as if it happened yesterday. Since you were the last one left, I thought you would be my best bet for finding someone else who remembers."

"Me?" She straightened, still wary but less defensive. Her finely tuned instincts were telling her the male was legit, and she was inclined to believe them. That did not, however, mean he was _safe. _"The last what?"

He shot her an odd look. "The last one left alive."

Her body went cold, as images assaulted her mind.

_A man in white…powerful shinigami…fire…death…Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci cut down and left to die slowly…vengeance…ice...pain…Aizen-sama…betrayal…_

"…Aizen…" she whispered, eyes wide.

"You _do _remember." His tone was knowing, but tired. She ignored him, staring straight ahead in confused horror. What _was _this? After a long moment, she pulled out of her musings and turned to consider him.

"I know names and images, but I do not understand what they are from." She lowered her arm and pinned him with a no-nonsense glare. "Nor do I remember _you_."

He blinked, and then shrugged. "At least you remember some of it. I've tried approaching a few lower level arrancar, but they have no idea what I'm talking about. I think they were dead before we went back, though."

"…Went back?" Before he could respond she shook her head. "Stop. Please, explain to me what you know from the beginning."

A reluctant frown was her answer. She responded with a cold glare.

"I will not come to understand these flashes unless you explain everything in chronological order. That IS what you want, isn't it? For me to remember?"

He scowled, rocking backwards on his heels. "Yes, but it'll be time consuming. And I'll sound insane."

Her unimpressed glower did not sway his opinion. "If you are not willing to share, then why did you approach me?"

"I thought you already knew everything. I wasn't expecting to be attacked…"

"We are hollows in Hueco Mundo." Her tone was dry, but she was actually mildly amused. "You should always be prepared for an attack."

He shrugged.

"Starrk, my memory flashes occur when you address certain events that only you seem to have knowledge of. If you explain to me what they mean, what I _should _know, then I will most likely remember everything on my own. I will not think you are insane.

He studied her for a long moment, looking torn, then nodded slowly.

"I suppose you're right. It's no use if you don't even know what I'm talking about, I guess. And you'll have a lot more success with the others than I would."

She quirked an eyebrow in mild annoyance. "Indeed. I'm sure you'll explain that statement in due time?"

"Yeah, sure." He slumped against the tree, resting in the shadows once again. "So the shinigami made this rock thing called a hogyoku…"

Harribel settled back to listen, allowing the arrancar's words and her own 'memories' to solidify in her mind, painting a picture of power, betrayal, and death.

This time, she would be prepared.

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**So…Happy Valentine's Day!**

**And I totally did that on purpose. It's not like I meant to post this on Tuesday and didn't manage to finish or anything…**

**I know some of you were probably hoping I would continue the plot-line from the previous chapter right away, but my muse just wasn't into it. I will finish it but not yet. I'm planning to write the chapter with Aizen and Ichigo before revisiting Starrk and Uryu so it could be a little while.**

**THIS chapter is an excerpt from my 'Five Years' idea (potential upcoming fic/summary in my profile) in which, when the hogyoku awakens it reacts unpredictably by basically rewinding the timeline five years. Some of the characters remember, in part or in full, but most don't (who and why is explained later on). This scene is an abbreviated/rough draft version of the second chapter (the real version will include Lilynette and Harribel's fraccion plus continuity), between Starrk's awakening in the past and his taking guardianship over Ichigo's disembodied hollow powers (manifested as a sword. The what and why of _that _will also be explained later). It's still in the rough early stages, but it's getting there.**

**I've never written Harribel before, so I hope she came out okay.**

**Hm. What else?**

**Oh! Reception for that Ichigo ficlet I posted has been amazing, so I've decided to keep it as 'in progress' rather than 'complete', but updates will be few and far between.**

**Real life has been a roller coaster recently and as a result inspiration has been hard to come by. I'm trying, though.**

**I know there was more I was going to say, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was…**

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**To everyone who reviewed the last chapter (Lman3, wolfeclipse25, KrazieKat, dukefan01, Jade Dragon, Love Psycho, and lolcatsmanseven), thank you so much for your support and input! The turnout was the best so far!**

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**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	31. Sword

**31. Sword**

This wasn't exactly what Starrk expected when Muramasa showed up. The strange spirit's speeches about freedom and equality had put Starrk more in mind of peace talks and defensive rebellion; maybe running away for a few weeks to prove to the shinigami just how much they needed the services of their zanpakuto.

Not wanton destruction.

His mouth pulled down into a frown as two more renegade zanpakuto raced past him, hooting and hollering as they lashed out at the low-ranked shinigami running around in confusion and panic. One spirit was a black bull with red eyes, snorting fire from its nostrils and wielding a scimitar while the other was a blue scaled biped with snake-like features and a cat o' nine tails whip that was tipped with sharp hooks on the end of each tail.

Blood sprayed and voices screamed as the two creatures cackled maniacally and laid into the crowd.

Darkly, Starrk wondered if the spirits' shinigami were their targets.

That was something else that surprised him after manifesting; just how aggressive most of the zanpakuto were. Sure they were tired at being oppressed, but from what he'd gathered, the oppression was more from misunderstandings and accidental neglect, not deliberate maliciousness. The shinigami were still their other halves, and Starrk did not understand how they could even _consider _seriously harming or killing each other.

He would _never_ hurt Lilynette, no matter what Muramasa said.

The destruction only lasted a moment, until the bull and snake became distracted and took off in the direction of Sogyoku Hill, most likely trying to get to their new leader. They left carnage in their wake. At least three of the shinigami were dead and four more were wounded. Two had run to get help (whether they would make it through the chaos or not was anyone's guess), leaving three to tend to the casualties. Now that they had stopped moving around, Starrk could see that none of their sword hilts matched the weapons their attackers had been wielding. He wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

He kept his perch, watching the shinigami for almost ten minutes before one of them thought to look up.

The boy froze, eyes wide in fear at sight of the silent silhouette crouching on the roof of the building opposite them. Starrk could only imagine what the shinigami saw, but he didn't like causing such an expression on anyone's face. He frowned, and leaped down, landing lightly a few meters away from the small group.

They immediately drew their swords and stood to attention. Two of them jumped in front of their injured comrades, while the third moved to apprehend the newcomer.

"H-Hey! Stop!"

Starrk shot him a supremely unimpressed look, flicking an ear in his direction.

"Do you really think you can take me?" He yawned. "You can't even use your swords."

For the first time, the shinigami seemed to notice his reiatsu signature.

"You…You're a zanpakuto!"

The wolf spirit shrugged casually.

"You…I…_Why?_"

Startled, Starrk finally directed his full attention to the boy. "Why what?"

"Why would you DO this? You're our swords! I thought…I mean…"

Starrk scowled. "You thought we were happy, being regarded as tools and objects?"

The three of them exchanged startled looks and, at the obvious confusion, Starrk lost whatever momentary aggression he'd managed to drum up. He sighed and scratched at his right ear with his claws. There wasn't anything these unranked shinigami could do about the situation, good or bad.

Before either of them could make another move, a new rash of explosions painted the sky red amongst the buildings under Sogyoku Hill. It seemed the captains' zanpakuto were acting out again.

Losing interest in the injured shinigami, Starrk jumped onto the nearest building in one easy leap, scaling roofs and walls until he was many streets away and had a better view of the situation.

While there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of zanpakuto spirits running loose due to Muramasa's actions, only those of the captains and lieutenants seemed to deserve personal attention. Unlike the zanpakuto of low ranked shinigami that were running amok in the outskirts in groups of one or two, the crowd of powerful spirits stayed mostly together. They were, Starrk reflected sourly, the captains club. None of them cared about their weaker low-ranked compatriots, despite what Muramasa said about equality. In fact, the spirit in question was standing on top of Sogyoku hill, arms spread wide as he laughed at the destruction being visited on Seireitei.

The wolf scowled and turned away. He might be strong enough to be a member of their little club, but he wasn't a high rank so he wouldn't be accepted. He wasn't _any _rank, since Lilynette was still in the academy. Not that he cared…

This whole situation was becoming fishier by the second. It might be better if he just returned to Lilynette and spent the next however long he was manifested sleeping in the gardens and parks outside of the academy.

With that in mind, he set off over the rooftops, making sure to avoid areas of violence and dissension on his way.

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Turnabout: During the zanpakuto rebellion, some shinigami report seeing a strange sword amongst the rebels; it appears as a thin man with lupine features, a western outfit, and no sword. At first, its appearance is dismissed as belonging to a lower ranked shinigami...until it accidentally knocks Kenpachi Zaraki through a wall and survives the backlash with no ill effects. Suddenly, the captains are very interested in the unknown sword. Meanwhile, Lilynette has only been at the academy for two months and a cleansed spirit for a little longer than that, but she knows there is something odd about her zanpakuto spirit...

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**Bah.**

**I'm fed up with this chapter.**

**Technically, it's a conceptual preview/missing scene from my upcoming fic 'Turnabout' which was one of the top poll results (along with 'Five Years' and 'How Coyote Starrk became a member of the Gotei 13 (on accident)'). However, I just couldn't make it _right_. It doesn't really reflect the tone I'm aiming for in the fic, it doesn't describe any sort of back story or setting, it doesn't advance any kind of plot or story...**

**Still, I had to start somewhere. My original plans for the plot were drastically derailed when I looked up the timeline and realized the first 20-30 episodes of the arc all took place over only two days. A recent surge of inspiration demolished that stumbling block, but I'm still trying to find my bearings.  
**

**Besides, the only other ficlet I have to post falls under THIS description: **Starrk's a werewolf prisoner at the Los Noches Scientific Research Facility. He's surprisingly chill about this, even when Gin is dragging him around at the end of a leash.

**Wouldn't you rather have the zanpakuto chapter? (The other will probably wind up being scrapped.)**

**ANYHOW, to completely change the subject, I'm considering capping this story. It has become far more of a monster than I ever intended; it went from the planned 27 chapters of 100-500 words each to...what it is now, which takes up a lot of time and energy. It's been tons of fun, but I don't know...I'm losing inspiration and I kinda want to focus my energy elsewhere. (I'll make sure to finish the prompts first, of course.)  
**

**What do you think?  
**

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**To everyone who reviewed the last chapter (Ultimate Black Ace, lolcatsmanseven, wolfeclipse25, ThorongilAnime, and Jade Dragon), thank you so much for your support and input! You guys are amazing!  
**

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**Reviews are loved (and they make me update faster) so please take a moment to leave a comment!  
**


	32. First Impressions

**32. First Impressions**

No one knew where he came from.

Aizen simply vanished into the desert one day, and when he returned he was followed by a hollow that none of them, not even Barragan, had seen before. The creature was monstrously strong but completely docile.

At least, he was docile with Aizen, and on Aizen's word. The hollows were wary of the newcomer because his laconic nature disguised his thoughts and reactions. He never had to be put in his place, never rebelled against Aizen's treatment, never acted disrespectfully…never really _reacted _at all. No one could tell what would press his buttons, so they couldn't tell how far he could be pushed before striking back with lethal force. What would cause him to release his anger and killing instincts? They had to be there; he was, after all, a hollow.

Normally, the more volatile espada (Grimmjow and Nnoitra) would not care about such things. They typically ran roughshod over 'sensibilities', and 'limits', but they hadn't made it this far without a healthy survival instinct, and the sheer power the newcomer projected when at _rest _was enough to knock them flat. If he got angry, he could crush them like bugs. (At which point, Grimmjow made the observation that Nnoitra _was _a bug, and they got in their sixth tussle of the day.)

Even the more powerful arrancar were uneasy. They didn't need to be told that the newcomer was superior in strength; what they wanted to know was _why_. If the new hollow had been in the desert, why hadn't he taken control of Hueco Mundo? His power had never been sensed before. Was he a creation of Aizen's? Why didn't he need the hogyoku to become an arrancar? There was no way that was natural…

But Aizen was silent on such matters, and adamant that the new primera was there to stay. Coyote Starrk was inducted into the ranks of the arrancar army amongst hushed gossip and terrified whispers.

At the center of it all, the object of their concern observed their actions with complete confusion and utter disappointment.

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**A callback to the days when I was writing drabbles and introspection, rather than AUs...  
**

**It's very short compared to most chapters, but it felt like a complete idea on its own and adding a second part from Starrk's POV would have destroyed the tone. I posted this one instead of the werewolf one because of personal preference. That one might actually get up because a reviewer mentioned they were interested in reading it, but I'll have to edit it heavily first.**

**In other news, I've edited the chapters so that the character names are spelled the same throughout. Starrk, Lilynette, and Harribel were the worst offenders.**

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**Announcement**

**The reception to last chapter's proposal of capping 'Howling at the Moon' in favor of other projects was very supportive. Thanks guys!**

**I've decided not to officially end it, but I will be adding my other stories ('Turnabout', 'Five Years', 'How Coyote Starrk…') to my update schedule and I'm intending for them to take precedence. I'm also going to bump up 'Nicol's New Fate' and 'Temporal Divergence'. The frequency and order of the updates will, of course, depend on inspiration and reception but that's the current plan. **

**Over the 3-6 weeks I will post one of my new stories every time I update 'Howling at the Moon'. I've started with the first chapter of 'Five Years' (which is going up today).  
**

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**To everyone who reviewed last chapter (wolfeclipse (x2), Ultimate Black Ace, Jade Dragon, lolcatsmanseven, Simply Christian, Lman3), thank you so much for your support and input! You guys are amazing!**

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**Reviews are loved (and they make me update faster) so please take a moment and leave a comment!**


	33. Crime

**33. Crime**

"Do we know who he is?" The officer in charge of the case, Detective Ichigo Kurosaki, frowned deeply as he observed their suspect through the one-way glass. The older man in the interrogation room on the other side wasn't a primary, or even a secondary, suspect (he had an airtight alibi and no motive) but he was the only person with any sort of information on the victim. The fact that no one could figure out why he had such information made the entire situation suspicious, and was enough justification for Ichigo to hold on to him for as long as possible. Thankfully the suspect didn't seem to mind that much, beyond concern for his daughter being picked up from school (a matter that was easily dealt with).

At Ichigo's side, Uryu adjusted his glasses and frowned at the thick sheaf of papers in his hands. "His name is Coyote Starrk, by his own admission, and he's some sort of caretaker for the canines at a wildlife sanctuary. There was no identification on him, not even a driver's license. He let us take a DNA sample and fingerprints, but nothing showed up in the database."

"So…we have nothing."

The CSI adjusted his glasses again (a sign of irritation) but shook his head and Ichigo frowned. Beyond Uryu's aggravation at coming to him empty handed, it was downright odd for the investigators to find _nothing._ Even the most innocent of victims had a social security number and a paper trail.

"Well, we can keep him for another fifteen hours. Keep looking."

As he started to walk back to his desk, a sudden thought made him turn back. "Hey, try the family angle. Maybe his daughter has hospital records or something, and he would be listed as guardian."

Uryu nodded in acknowledgement as he walked back to his department, nose already buried in the case-file.

* * *

- _Time Skip – 13 hours - _

Inside the interrogation room, Starrk sat in an uncomfortable chair, slumped over an uncomfortable table, with a paper cup half full of tap water in front of him. His head was resting on his crossed arms and his body was totally relaxed, at odds with the hostile atmosphere of the tiny room. Anyone who didn't know him would think he was asleep.

However, in the last three hours the situation had gone from 'mildly annoying' to 'severely irritating'. The orange-haired detective had at least been nice enough to let him call Lilynette and explain his absence; these new officers wouldn't even let him have a new cup of water. In response to the change of guard, he had become completely non-communicative. He knew better than to actively resist, but he'd stopped answering their questions with anything other than a dull stare or feigned sleepiness. They were currently under the impression that he could sleep through anything, including their shouting and slamming the door, and Starrk was more than willing to let them continue under that assumption.

Besides, they legally could not keep him for more than two more hours. He could hold out that long.

* * *

_- Time Skip – 1 hour-_

"So." Ichigo stopped at Uryu's desk, craning his neck to see what was on his computer screen. "Did you find anything?"

The CSI immediately stopped typing and frowned deeply. "I…yes. Something."

That was…an odd response. Ichigo abandoned his endeavor to make sense of the compiling data on the screen in favor of raising an eyebrow in his co-worker's direction. Uryu was normally calm and composed…he should have been proud or at least satisfied over finding something on the elusive Mr. Starrk. Not…whatever this was.

"…Yeah…?"

"Ichigo." First name. This was going to be bad. "You're not going to like it."

The detective scowled and dropped into a chair opposite Uryu's so that he could look him in the eye.

"What did you find?"

A deep sigh was his only answer for a moment, as the other man shuffled through his papers, but eventually he came up with a (still surprisingly thin) dossier. Then he peered over his glasses at Ichigo, obviously steeling himself.

"First of all, most of my information is not on Coyote Starrk. I followed your advice and investigated Lilynette Gingerbuck."

"Who-?"

"His 'daughter'. She's actually his half-sister. I was able to cross-check their genetic markers because she has a sample in the system, from when her parents went on file for child abuse."

Any humor left in Ichigo's expression drained away and he suddenly understood Uryu's discomfort. All they had expected to find were rudimentary facts, not a sordid backstory.

"Most of what I have on Starrk is unconfirmed; I've cobbled it together from his participation in his sister's life. There is no record of his birth, despite both of his parents being legal citizens, and no sign of public education, although that could have been under a different name."

"Ishida, you're avoiding something. Just give it to me straight."

The CSI scowled. "Fine. His first appearance was about ten years ago, at the house of his father, step-mother, and their daughter. He was eighteen at the time and it looks like he was trying to track down his birth-father. I'm not sure _why_; it looks like he abandoned Starrk and his mother not long after Starrk's birth and she died three or four years later."

"What's with all the 'abouts'?"

"There is no record of any of this; I'm guessing the approximate dates." A frigid blue glare kept Ichigo from asking any more questions. "As I was _saying_, according to the neighbors, he just showed up one day asking about his father. The Gingerbuck family was already infamous for their shouting matches and Starrk's appearance kicked off an argument that the entire neighborhood heard – something about cheating and money; the details have been lost to time."

"Cheating?"

"Yes, I found that interesting as well. However, it seems that Starrk's mother was his first wife; there's a marriage certificate and everything, but no divorce or annulment papers."

"Huh. So, the fight…?"

"At some point during the shouting, the neighbors saw Starrk leave the house and sit on the front steps in the rain. Lilynette, then only five years old, followed shortly after. No one knows what they talked about but he must have given her contact information.

Before his arrival, the Gingerbucks had already been investigated for child neglect and endangerment several times and were suspected of abuse but there was no evidence. The father was only there some nights and on weekends, and the mother forgot to pick Lilynette up from school more often than not. Their regular fights seemed to be the most interaction any of them had with each other. The girl was quiet and small, withdrawn and wary of strangers."

"CPS didn't-?"

"There was no proof. It's at this point that Starrk actually appears in the system as Steven Mark Coyote, dog trainer at a local pet store. I already ran the name; it appears to be an alias. His co-workers and clients described him as quiet but observant, with a nearly uncanny talent for working with animals.

Evidence suggests he stayed in contact with Lilynette, but never approached his father or step-mother again."

"Evidence?"

"The neighbors saw her sneaking phone calls, mostly asking homework questions and advice. I can't prove it was Starrk she spoke to but occasionally she called him to pick her up from school if her parents were more than two hours late. He was always more punctual and polite than either older Gingerbuck.

That seems to be how things stood for three years, until the parents' turbulent relationship fell apart completely."

"This is the part I'm not going to like, isn't it?"

"Very likely. No one is sure of the exact details, but in the heat of a shouting match, one of the parents physically attacked the other, who responded in kind. At some point, one of them got a knife and they fought over it. When they first came to blows, Lilynette called Starrk for help and he told her to call the police and get out of the house; he'd be there soon. She tried, but…

Ichigo waited patiently for Uryu to regain his composure.

"Whoever had the knife – forensics suggests Mrs. Gingerbuck – managed to swing it wide, and caught Lilynette across her face, directly over her left eye. The force and pain knocked her backwards and she fell, banging her head. It is probably a mercy that she was unconscious for the rest of the fight.

Starrk got there almost exactly when the police did. They found blood everywhere; both adults had been fatally stabbed and bled out while fighting. Lilynette required extensive medical care, but she recovered.

The two of them managed to get Starrk appointed her legal guardian and they moved here, where she was enrolled in school and he took up the job at the wildlife sanctuary, dealing with the canines. Apparently, he's particularly adept at handling the wolves."

By the end of the story, Ichigo had his hands clenched tightly in his lap and a deep crease in his forehead from holding back.

Poor little girl…but, compared to most of the victims in his line of work, she was lucky. At least she'd been able to walk away from the crime scene, and had an older brother to take her in.

He had to clear his throat before speaking again.

"That's it? No connection to our crime scene?"

"None whatsoever."

That was the cue for a series of rapid beeps to begin sounding from a screen that was suddenly flashing bright red.

With a few keystrokes, Uryu killed the noise and read the warning message, eyebrows rising over his glasses in surprise.

"Well?" Patience was not Ichigo's thing.

"It seems my investigation has been flagged by a government agency…the shinigami? I don't know who they are, but they apparently have enough clearance to confiscate my data." The eyebrows were coming down again, angry this time. "They've also ordered us to keep Starrk in custody until their agents can come collect him."

"What?!...Can they do that? Isn't it illegal?"

"Not for them, apparently." A sour scowl crossed Ishida's face as he started tapping at his keyboard, trying to analyze as much information as he could before it was taken away. Ichigo stood up, a matching expression crossing his own face, and stalked down the hallway.

* * *

_- Time Skip – 5 minutes-_

Starrk didn't react as the door to his room was slammed open, and only opened one bleary eye when the orange-haired detective dropped heavily into the chair opposite him, glaring fit to kill. His lack of response seemed to break the detective's single-minded concentration, but Ichigo quickly recovered and leaned forward, pinning his suspect with a grave, expectant expression.

"Who are the shinigami?"

The older man scowled and grumbled quietly, but lifted his head to meet the detective's eyes.

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that, Mr. Officer."

"Do you work for them?"

_That _got a reaction. An incredulous huff of laughter and a quick headshake.

"You don't _work_ for the shinigami, kid. If they want you, they _take _you."

That was his final word on the subject; Ichigo pressed with more questions but Starrk simply closed his eyes and pretended to go back to sleep until the younger man left in ill temper.

Despite his unconcerned appearance, Starrk was actually anything but. His mind was racing with sudden worry – shinigami were bad news. They had been dogging his footsteps ever since he accepted Aizen's assistance in paying Lilynette's hospital bills. Since then, he'd done his mysterious benefactor a few odd favors (which he definitely did NOT ask questions about. In fact, he did his best to know as little as possible about Aizen's actions.) but mostly tried to keep on the level. Unfortunately, he'd tipped his hand when one of the shinigami approached him out of uniform and he reacted…badly…to being goaded. His talents, which he'd honed throughout his childhood, apparently made him very interesting to the black-clad Special Forces group.

He didn't know how they managed to find him but he needed to-

A light knock on the door was the only warning he got, before a very familiar head of white hair, followed by an even more familiar man in a pink tie, stepped into the room.

Too late.

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**Author's Notes:**

**Well, if there's any chapter likely to offend someone, it will probably be this one. However, it's no worse than an episode of CSI and pales next to SVU, which were my inspiration, and it's on my list so I wanted to post it. (Some of you know about 'the list' posted alongside the index…I've gone over in the past couple weeks so check it out if you haven't yet.) I have two other 'real world' back stories for Starrk and Lilynette but they're both considerably sadder and just writing them down makes me feel depressed.**

**Hrm…well, this chapter has proven to me that I should really return to working on Temporal Instability…Ichigo and Uryu are clamoring for my attention, it seems. Exactly how they managed to become main characters in a one-shot dedicated to Starrk, I'm not sure. Speaking of which, my newest profile poll is on the title for that story. Which do you think sounds better: 'Temporal Instability' or 'Paradox'?**

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**Announcement**

**This is going be my last 'semi-regular' update for 'Howling at the Moon'. After this, it will be going into sporadic hiatus while I work on the other stories I've posted. If I get inspiration, I'll post a chapter every now and then (especially the reviewer prompts I haven't gotten to yet), but it won't be on my update list. As such, I will be responding to reviews when I get them rather than before the next chapter. (That should be my next poll…when do you prefer review responses?)**

**Thank you everyone who has read, reviewed, favorite, and/or followed this story. You guys are awesome and I never would have gotten this far without your support and encouragement. :)**

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**Special thanks to those of you who reviewed last chapter: wolfeclipse25, Jade Dragon, Simply Christian, and ThatOneFan. You guys are amazing!  
**

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**Reviews are loved.  
**


	34. History

**34. History**

_The Alphabet Challenge__: Choose a subject and write (type) the letters of the alphabet in a vertical line on a piece of paper (screen). For each letter, write one sentence related to the chosen subject. By the end, you should have twenty six related statements, each starting with a different letter, and (hopefully) the sketch of a short story. Stay on topic, follow the guidelines, and have fun!_

_Chosen Subject__: Starrk's past as an evolving hollow in Hueco Mundo (pre-arrancar)._

* * *

All his life, Starrk wanted _more_: more life, more power, more friends, more options…sometimes it worked, but never how he wanted it to – the power he strove to obtain as a lesser hollow removed all possibility of friends, options for a better life, or a happier future.

Before he became a Vasto Lorde, the creature that would become Coyote Starrk was not particularly vicious or vengeful; in fact, most other Adjuchas expected him to 'break' – lose half his mask to the fangs of another hollow, but remain alive through sheer force of will and raw power.

Cooperation is not something hollows practice often, even among others of their own caste, and Starrk was shunned for his lack of violent attitude – he simply wasn't 'hollow' enough to hunt as a member of an Adjuchas group.

Destruction and death followed in his wake, despite his noble intentions and lack of pack; rejections of companionship were often violent and Starrk _always _came out on top.

Evil is a foreign concept for hollows; live or die, eat or be eaten, survival of the fittest…these are what they understand, what instincts are burned into their minds upon creation; morality is irrelevant.

For centuries, Starrk roamed the wastes of Hueco Mundo, fighting and eating and always searching for, but never finding, a goal he didn't understand, seeking to fill the emptiness within himself_._

Giant hollows, giant trees, giant caverns…below-ground, everything seemed larger than life – in contrast, the desert of Hueco Mundo was even bigger than the Forest, but nearly empty; it was a considerable culture shock to the weaker hollows that were used to cramped quarters and continuous battle.

Having space to run and move, time to re-learn how to think about something other than food, and discovering the ambition to become stronger (regardless of the reason) was what separated the predators from their prey.

If he'd been given another chance, Starrk might have chosen differently.

Just the thought of being prey put his teeth on edge, however, so maybe not, even if being a predator wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Killing was a part of his life, had been for as long as he could remember, and while he didn't enjoy it or revel in it the way most hollows did, he didn't really see anything wrong with it either.

Living humans, however, were strictly off the menu for several reasons: most were weak and not worth his time, the few that were worth his time would draw the attention of shinigami who were always annoying to deal with, and he simply did not like killing helpless people to eat their souls.

More times than he would like to admit, he attempted to seek out members of other species to see if they could (would) fill the emptiness in his soul – shinigami included.

No one was ever willing to help, or even stay and talk; those who ran were allowed to leave but those who attacked him were killed – there was never any reaction in between.

Only the Vasto Lordes seemed immune to Starrk's strangeness, and they did not care – one of them actually taunted the strong Adjuchas, attacking him with cruel words, verbal barbs that hurt worse than any physical injuries.

Perhaps it was the aggravation of being mocked that finally made Starrk snap, or the building fever of evolution - many centuries as an Adjuchas were finally paying off and allowing him to undergo the final metamorphosis.

Quick as a whip, he turned on the Vasto Lorde and ripped into her, tearing her down before the older hollow to could react and snapping her mask like brittle chalk between his teeth, killing her with speed and the element of surprise.

Reiatsu was _not _something he needed more of during evolution, but hollow instinct took over before his fever-addled mind could register the danger, and he dug into his final feast as an Adjuchas.

Shockwaves of energy shook the desert during his evolution, causing earthquakes and sand storms as far away as Los Noches.

Terrible energy was infused in the storms, catching and ripping at any unfortunate hollow caught out on the sand- hundreds of hollows died that night.

Under the cover of the disturbance, the Adjuchas that HAD been in the process of evolving into a Vasto Lorde absorbed the full breadth of power in the soul of his prey…energy that had been absorbed and stored for over half a millennia.

Vasto Lorde met Vasto Lorde: Coyote Starrk, already with enough power to reach the final level of hollow development, doubled his level of reiatsu past the point it should have been physically possible, his transition broadcast as a tornado of electric blue that stretched far into the sky over Hueco Mundo.

When the storms finally died down, the result was underwhelming: a single figure covered in brown and grey fur lay on the sand, curled around itself in a fetal position – it was only at second glance that the eddying blue energy around him seemed to condense into scores of sleeping wolves.

Xerox copies of each other, the wolves lay motionless around their master, the point of their origin, staring mindlessly with blank red eyes at nothing in particular and waiting to be given orders.

Yipping and snarling greeted Starrk when he returned to consciousness, still mired in the lethargy that always followed evolution but slowly expanding his senses outward and feeling his reiatsu levels waking up and beginning to rise to their new base level.

Zeroing in on the source, the new Vasto Lorde observed his creations fighting down an ambitious Adjuchas that was attempting to take advantage of Starrk's temporary weakness – as soon as Starrk's reiatsu responded to the threat, rising as much as it was able at his level of exhaustion but still higher than ever before, the stranger shuddered, gave a long keening cry, and fell dead.

* * *

_It was a reaction he would quickly grow to hate._

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**Writer's block is a curious thing…it keeps me from updating or writing my current stories but inspires me to do numerous challenges in an attempt to break it.**

**In that spirit, I have recently written 24 pages of unfinished, unpolished 'scribbles', including :4 '20 min challenges', a 3k neko (inu) fic, a 2.5k 'what if Urahara found Starrk after the battle?' fic, a short 'what if **_**Shunsui**_** found Starrk after the battle?', and an unfinished continuation of chapter 23 (Choice).**

**Plus this, most recent, attempt at breaking through, which I decided to post because…well, I don't really have a good reason, and I might wind up removing it if I look back tomorrow and realize sleep deprivation and allergies made me do something foolish. Writing it was surprisingly difficult, especially trying to start a sentence with the letter X (hence, Xerox) and keeping the subject from drifting. The challenge typically ends with 26 mostly related statements, but my attempt grew a basic plot somewhere in the middle. (Yes I am aware I fudged the rules a bit with that final line and so many run-ons, dashes, semi-colons, and compound sentences, but there is still only one period per letter so …Success!)**

**ALL of this and I STILL can't write a new chapter for 'Temporal Displacement' or 'Turnabout'. Argh. Any suggestions on breaking writer's block would be appreciated.**

**Also, the lack of response last chapter was pretty depressing, guys. I know it wasn't my usual fare, but it wasn't THAT bad, was it? :( **

**But I'm glad at least one person enjoyed the previous chapter- thanks for your review, Lman3!**


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